The text Virtue in Virtual Spaces: Catholic Social Teaching and Technology reminded me of the Second Vatican Council’s document Gaudium et Spes and its emphasis on the Church’s role in presenting its gifts to the modern world. One such gift is the Church’s Catholic Social Teaching (CST) tradition, which the authors of this text have thoroughly researched and applied to one of the most influential forces in the modern world: social media.

While the text is concise and intended for a pastoral setting, it is both insightful and profound in its honest reflection on social media from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. It also develops a framework for assessing and constructing virtual spaces that align with Catholic teachings and emphasize our shared humanity. The authors credit the genesis of this book to “taking up the call” of Pope Francis to develop a CST-based framework that ensures “present-day forms of communication” promote the common good (x). The result is a fascinating overview of social media technologies and platforms, an honest analysis of their impact, and tools for evaluating current and future technological developments, including generative AI (see Chapter Six).

The text is divided into six concise chapters, ranging from “Dialogue with Social Technologies” (Chapter Three) to the Development of a CST-based framework (Chapter Four) and its application (Chapter Five). However, the central chapters are chapters four and five.

Influenced by the teachings of Popes Benedict XVI and Francis—who warned that technology is never neutral—the authors over the course of these chapters advocate a framework for analyzing technology that consists of three parts: (1) the Think → (2) Build → (3) Do Sequence (52). “The Think” phase refers to the core values that companies or programmers have in mind when creating a product. These values are often found on a company’s mission page and guide product development. For example, the authors cite Meta’s core value of “to connect the world” (53). This value supersedes others and determines priorities. The “Build” phase refers to how these values materialize in the product’s design, often shaping user experience. Meta’s emphasis on connection influences how programmers design the platform to encourage habitual engagement with news feeds. Finally, the “Do” phase examines how a software’s design—shaped by a company’s core values—affects user behavior (54). Unfortunately, social media platforms like Meta often foster toxic interactions that spill over into real life. The sensational news Meta prioritizes to maintain user engagement leads to unhealthy, divisive connections rather than meaningful engagement.

The book’s key contribution is demonstrating how understanding this framework allows future creators to correct and refine technological design. For example, the authors suggest incorporating CST in the Think stage of product development. Given that technology often discriminates against minorities, programmers can apply the CST principle of Call to Family, Community, and Participation to ensure diverse voices are included in the design process. This approach affirms the dignity of all persons (59). One example the text provides is augmented-reality facial recognition software, which is often biased toward lighter skin tones. This could have been avoided if non-light skinned people were involved in the development process.

While chapter four offers a compelling discussion on how CST principles can guide the creation of just technologies by embedding CST into each phase of the three-part framework, chapter five presents case studies that apply this framework, primarily as a tool for evaluating major social media platforms from a Catholic perspective. The chapter examines “Catholic Twitter” and “The Buy Nothing Project” and concludes with an evaluation of the Hallow application. While Hallow is not a social media platform, it is one of the most influential meditation and prayer applications. The analysis of Hallow is particularly intriguing: while the app’s values align with CST, the authors highlight concerns about the gamification of prayer within the Do sequence (100). Users receive prayer challenges and rewards for completing them. While this may encourage lectio divina, it raises questions about whether the app fosters genuine prayer and a deepened relationship with God and the Church—or whether it risks becoming a quasi-Christian competition, leading to the vice of pride rather than virtue, undermining the values that shaped the application.

Overall, I am very impressed with this text and highly recommend it to anyone interested in these topics. While one could critique the book for its lack of in-depth analysis or for not offering concrete strategies for reforming social media applications, its succinct nature is also a strength, making it accessible to both specialists and non-specialists. This book would serve well as a supplementary text in courses on contemporary Catholic Social Teaching or Catholic Theology/Theological Ethics and Technology.