Introducing Virtual Apologist Justin

Welcome to our latest experiment!

Like most technology, Artificial Intelligence can be used for good or bad.

As a media company, Catholic Answers is dedicated to keeping an eye on the ever-changing media landscape we operate in, and this project has allowed us to dip our toes into the wonderful world of A.I.

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Justin is a 3D model supported by AI to give you answers to your questions about the Catholic Faith.

Justin is for educational and entertainment purposes only. In essence, it’s a fancy search engine and not a replacement for real human interaction. If there are issues you struggle with, please seek guidance from your pastor or spiritual advisor.  

If AI is not your thing, we totally understand, and we recommend that you use the search function on our website at catholic.com.

At this point, Justin only works on desktop computer browsers, but we hope to release a mobile-friendly version soon. If there are any issues with the answers you are given, please use the feedback option to tell us about it.

Thank you so much for taking an interest in Justin!

UPDATE: A Message from Catholic Answers President, Christopher Check.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are you doing this? 

Because lots of people have lots of questions about the Catholic faith! And most of the time, the answers they’re getting from search engines or chat bots aren’t good enough.

Why don’t you just have real people answer the questions?

If we had five times the staff working around the clock just answering questions, we still wouldn’t be able to get to them all. And in our time, seekers are increasingly turning to AI for answers whether we like it or not. The Justin app is not a replacement for human pastors, evangelists, teachers, and friends, but it does allow people all over the world to get reliable, consistent Catholic answers 24/7.

Doesn’t this contribute to all the ills that technology is bringing to the world?

It’s true that modern digital technologies can be used as instruments of evil. But they can be used for great good, too. Just like books, articles, videos, websites, podcasts, radio broadcasts, and so on, the Justin app is just a medium of information—and, when used right, of the truth. 

Where do the answers come from, and how do we know we can trust them? 

The answers on the Justin app are drawn from reliable sources of Catholic teaching, including magisterial documents and the content at Catholic.com. It has been thoroughly tested by Catholic Answers apologists for accuracy and orthodoxy. Over time, we will keep refining the answers and adding to its base of knowledge.