For the ninth time, Professor Martín Carbajo-Núñez has been invited to participate in the
International Familiology Symposium organized by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. In this jubilee tenth edition, dedicated to Discourses on Motherhood – Past and Present. Interdisciplinary Reflections, he will once again serve as a member of the Scientific Committee.
At this year’s conference, Professor Carbajo-Núñez will deliver a lecture entitled: “Maternal Authority and Leadership in Francis of Assisi: A Humanizing Model for the AI-Driven World.”
In his presentation, he will examine the model of maternal authority and leadership proposed by Francis of Assisi and explore its relevance in today’s AI-driven and efficiency-oriented cultural context. In contrast to the model of the pater familias rooted in Roman law, Francis embodies a distinctly maternal style of leadership. Those in positions of authority are called to act “humbly and charitably,” even when offering correction. The authority of the “ministers and servants” is meant to reflect maternal care, while the obedience of the other friars should likewise be “charitable,” expressing the unconditional love that characterizes family relationships.
Against the background of contemporary decision-making models that increasingly rely on algorithmic systems shaped by technocratic and utilitarian criteria, Professor Carbajo-Núñez argues that Francis’s maternal paradigm offers a deeply humanizing vision of leadership. This model provides valuable anthropological and ethical resources for rethinking authority in a context where artificial intelligence risks reducing human judgment to mere metrics of efficiency.
