The blessing in Novolukoml

On Sunday, 11 October, Archbishop emeritus Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz blessed an icon of Saint Carlo Acutis at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Novolukoml, northern Belarus. The parish priest, Nikolai Lipsky, disclosed during the online broadcast of the Holy Liturgy that the image had been made specifically with artificial intelligence. According to Lipsky, the icon is an unusual sight both for the Catholic Church in Belarus and for other Catholic communities. The portal Katolik.life described the blessing as the first time an AI-generated icon has been consecrated in Belarus. Reports found no comparable blessing in other countries, including Russia.

Why believers objected

After the parish announcement, several believers criticised the initiative on social media. They argued that an image generated by artificial intelligence cannot be considered an icon, and they questioned its use in religious practice. Critics pointed out that icons are made according to a strict iconographic canon, a set of theological, technical and artistic rules that have remained unchanged for centuries. No official position of the Catholic Church on this icon, or on the use of AI in religious images, has been reported. The controversy has so far played out mainly in comments and posts following the parish's online announcement.

Who Carlo Acutis was

Carlo Acutis (1991 to 2006) was an Italian teenager who used the internet to spread the Catholic faith. He built websites on Eucharistic miracles and Catholic saints, helped homeless people and encouraged attendance at Mass. He died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15, and before his death he offered his life for the pope and the Church. Pope Francis beatified him in Assisi on 10 October 2020. Pope Leo XIV canonised him on 7 September 2025, the first canonisation of his pontificate, after a ceremony originally planned under Pope Francis had been postponed. Acutis is called the apostle of the internet and a patron of young people and of the internet.

Where the icon will hang

The icon was placed in the side altar of the church, where it will serve as a curtain for the icon of the saint who protects the parish. Lipsky explained that the two religious figures connect the beginnings of Christianity with the concerns of the 21st-century digital world. A special hymn, composed at the parish priest's initiative for Acutis's canonisation, was performed during the blessing. The ceremony was streamed online, and the recording is available on YouTube.