This week, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, addressing what it means to be a human and a Christian in an age of apparently rapid technological acceleration. One of the most interesting features of the encyclical is that Leo does not treat artificial intelligence itself as a totally unprecedented life-altering technology, but seems to be more concerned with how the human response to this technology is harming relationships and duties between real persons. It is this latter subject of relationships and duties which I would like to address, in the form of a brief open letter to the Seat of Peter.
Your Holiness,
I humbly implore you to standardize the Sign of Peace.
This may be difficult because many traditionalists want to do away with it altogether; on the other side, I’m sure many charismatics appreciate the ability to express themselves in a variety of different ways. I suspect that many somewhere-in-the-middle Catholics are like me and are simply in need of guidance.
Every time the Sign of Peace starts, I find myself in a social paradox, unsure whether to engage in physical contact with those around me or whether that will cause them to recoil in horror. Post-COVID, it seems like most people (myself included) default to the half-hearted peace sign propagated across an 8-foot radius to whoever happens to make eye contact during their own confused rotation. Perhaps the most nightmarish scenario of all is when I have shaken the hand of one person, turned around with my wrist non-committed but friendly to the idea of a second handshake, interpreted the second person in my rotation as being unfriendly to the handshake, then rotate to person 3 right as P2 extends his hand which I have now rejected; presumably leaving P2 with the idea that I saw him and thought he was so repulsive that I retracted my handshake offer.
This has placed such a toll on my psyche that I have found solace in a trad parish that simply does not engage in the practice. Even then, lost newcomers find themselves glancing around helplessly after the loud silence following “the peace of the Lord be with you always.” I will try to, in charity, sneak a quick peace sign at these poor strangers, acknowledging that they have not gone insane. However, perhaps this is doing more damage in the long run, and they need to be iced out one time so as to totally prevent any future confusion.
It is due to these concerns that I make my request. I don’t really care if the standard is the peace sign, the handshake, or even a neighborly kiss; all I ask is for you to tell me what to do.