PHOTO: IT Conference in Medjugorje began

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, the IT Conference, which is being held for the third time and will last until Sunday, began in Medjugorje. This conference is organized by the Information Center Mir Medjugorje, and is designed as a platform for people from the IT and technology sector with the aim of promoting the ethical use of technology.

At the beginning, the participants, who were in Medjugorje for the first time with the parish priest, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, toured the parish of Medjugorje, and at the opening of the conference, they were addressed by the Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, the parish priest, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, and the President of the Board of Directors and Director of the Information Center Mir Medjugorje, Fr. Danko Perutina and Vedran Vidović.

Representatives of the Croatian Post Mostar, Josip Bulić and Željka Šaravanja, presented Archbishop Cavalli with a postage stamp with the motif of this ITM conference.

The lecture was given by Fr. Odilon Gbènoukpo Singbo, a priest and theologian with a doctorate in bioethics and transhumanism, who spoke about ethical challenges, authenticity and the Catholic faith in the era of artificial intelligence.

Speaking about the potential and risks of artificial intelligence, he said that artificial intelligence is only an auxiliary tool for the development of society and some activities, although it is often seen as collaborators, or other persons, and he said of Medjugorje that it is a spiritual beacon in a digitally saturated world.

This was followed by a prayer program in the church of St. James, first the rosary, and then the Holy Mass celebrated by Archbishop Aldo Cavalli. In his homily, he invited us to ask ourselves how we will announce the Gospel to this mentality, this way of thinking, this world…

''Saint John Paul II. called it the new evangelization, but the attitude is always the same. This great challenge is how to announce the God we know to this world without criticizing and judging him. If we proclaim in this way without criticizing, condemning, eliminating, knowing God and the world, then we will grow. We will grow as Jesus grew and as the prophets grew, in wisdom and knowledge,'' said Archbishop Cavalli.

After the Holy Mass, the program continued in the John Paul II Hall with the testimony of former technology addicts from the Cenacolo community.