The conference took place on March 17, 2026, at the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest.
According to the social teachings of the Church, the common good must be at the center of economic governance/regulation. Economic regulation that advances the public good may increase costs, but these investments in the Kingdom of God yield greater human prosperity in the long run. Today’s digital economy and AI is dominated by a handful of platforms, which extract personal and social data from the EU, often with little return – described as “data colonialism”, a new form of extractivism. In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis St. John Paul II explicitly says “peoples or nations too have a right to their own full development”, including economic and social aspects and cultural identity. (§32) Catholic teaching sees genuine development as including work with dignity, not becoming a permanent technological client state. (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, St. John Paul II, §18) Church criticises “structures of sin” where technology becomes a tool of domination. (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, St. John Paul II, §36)
This conference, inspired by these ideas, brings together 15 speakers from 9 countries, including members of the Jáki Society.
The program is available here
