Empowering Families: How Catholics Are Championing a Pro-Family Technology Agenda for Human Flourishing

By Madalaine Elhabbal

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 4, 2025 / 11:10 am

A group of influential Catholic thinkers and policy experts has come together to promote a new pro-family policy focused on technology. This initiative seeks to shape future tech in ways that support family values.

Notable figures like Ryan T. Anderson, a leader at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Patrick Deneen from the University of Notre Dame are included among the 28 signers of the declaration titled “A Future for the Family: A New Technology Agenda for the Right.”

Published in First Things magazine on January 29, the declaration is part of a larger effort known as “A Future for the Family.” This initiative is backed by well-known think tanks like the Institute for Family Studies and the Heritage Foundation.

The statement introduces urgent concerns about the role of technology. It warns that technological advancements could overshadow the human experience and diminish the importance of family. “This anti-human outcome is not inevitable,” it argues, emphasizing the need for policies that prioritize family needs in tech development.

The authors propose ten guiding principles to ensure technology serves families rather than military or corporate interests. Key suggestions include respecting the natural cycle of life, promoting natural fertility methods, and protecting human sexuality from harmful content, such as pornography.

They also call for stricter regulations against addictive software aimed at children, better data protection laws, and technologies that boost human skills and job satisfaction. Additionally, they encourage projects that support environmental stewardship.

In conclusion, the statement stresses: “To undermine the family is to undo the future.” Strengthening families, it claims, leads to a hopeful and inventive future.

Other notable signatories include Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and law professor O. Carter Snead from Notre Dame.

Madalaine Elhabbal is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency at EWTN’s Washington, D.C. office. She has contributed to CatholicVote and has experience as a foreign language assistant in France. Madalaine is a graduate of Benedictine College.