Archbishop sets AI rules for archdiocesan communications
Archbishop Josafá Menezes da Silva of Aracaju, Brazil, has issued formal guidelines restricting how artificial intelligence can be used in archdiocesan communications. The decree, addressed to priests, deacons, lay ministers, and the faithful, requires human review of all AI-generated content and prohibits the simulation of clergy voices or appearances.
The rules draw on Church documents including Pope Leo XIV's message for the 60th World Communications Day and the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, as well as the joint Holy See note Antiqua et Nova on AI and human intelligence. "The starting point for all the Church's reflection on artificial intelligence is the unconditional defense of the dignity of the human person," Menezes said.
Mandatory review and labeling
The archbishop directed that all AI-assisted artwork must undergo human review before publication. Any content generated or manipulated by AI must be clearly labeled and distinguished from human-created material, "especially when the use of AI could affect the perception of the reality being presented."
For clergy specifically, Menezes prohibited using generative AI to reconstruct or simulate the appearance of a bishop, priest, or deacon when the result could be interpreted as an authentic representation. The same applies to voice simulation: AI must not be used to create audio of clergy delivering messages or speeches they never actually gave.
What AI can and cannot do
The decree bans several specific practices: reconstructing a real person's face to replace a photograph, significantly modifying a person's features, creating artificial appearances presented as actual, placing clergy in situations that did not occur, producing synthetic images that could pass as real photographs, and creating audio files that simulate a person's voice without their actual delivery.
AI remains permissible as an auxiliary tool in nine areas: creating backgrounds, textures, abstract elements, and illustrations; suggesting layouts; working with colors; assisting with composition and editing; and helping develop visual concepts. The archbishop cited Pope Leo XIV's warning that AI simulation can "fabricate 'parallel realities,' usurp faces and voices, and make it increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction."
Why this matters for PR and communications professionals
The Aracaju decree offers a concrete template for organizational AI policies in communications. Its core principles - mandatory human review, clear labeling of AI content, and a hard line against simulating real people's voices or appearances - map directly to concerns facing PR teams working with AI for PR & Communications. The distinction between AI as an auxiliary tool for backgrounds and layouts versus a prohibited tool for simulating people provides a practical framework that communications leaders can adapt. Professionals building their own guidelines may find the AI Learning Path for Media Relations Specialists useful for training teams on where to draw those lines.
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