On Friday 29 May, Paul van Geest, Professor of Theology and Economic Thought at Erasmus University Rotterdam, was present in Rome when the new Dutch Ambassador to the Holy See, Paul Bekkers, formally presented his credentials to Pope Leo XIV.
The occasion provided Van Geest with an opportunity to briefly introduce Pope Leo XIV to the theological-economic research being conducted at Erasmus University Rotterdam and to present a publication he co-authored with Emile Aarts, former Rector Magnificus of Tilburg University: How Universities Mirror Society; The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Academic Research, Education and our Conception of the Human Being.
In the book, the authors explore a pressing question: what happens to the university when knowledge is no longer scarce, but instantly accessible and increasingly generated by machines? Tracing developments from the medieval origins of the university to today’s AI-driven academic landscape, the book demonstrates how institutions of higher education have historically adapted to societal change. At the same time, the authors argue that the current technological revolution differs fundamentally in both scale and impact.
The Netherlands and the Holy See have enjoyed strong diplomatic relations for many years. Van Geest has been carrying out work for the Dutch Embassy to the Holy See for a considerable period and, at the invitation of Ambassador Bekkers, joined the Dutch delegation for the occasion. In 2020, Van Geest became the first Dutch scholar to be appointed a member of the prestigious Pontifical Academy of Theology in Rome. In 2024, he published a major encyclopaedia on Christianity, which he had the honour of presenting personally to Pope Francis together with several co-editors.
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Photo credit: © Vatican Media. Click here for more information about the book. For other questions, please contact Ronald de Groot, Media & Public Relations Officer at Erasmus School of Economics: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, +31 6 53 641 846.
