With this appointment, announced by the Vatican on 18 August 2026, announced by the Vatican on 18 August 2026,  Peter G. Kirchschläger will advise the papal authority for a five-year term, drawing on his academic expertise in social and socio-ethical issues. The Professor of Theological Ethics is one of twelve newly appointed experts serving as Consultors to the internationally composed Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. One of the Vatican’s various Dicasteries, it works to promote peace, justice, health and human rights.

“This is an extraordinary honour – and at the same time a great responsibility, which I am very happy to assume,” says Kirchschläger. He is looking forward to contributing his expertise on areas including the ethical regulation of artificial intelligence. This is one of his main fields of research. He also hopes to contribute to discussions on human rights, children’s rights, business ethics and development cooperation.

Kirchschläger has been Professor of Theological Ethics and Director of the Institute of Social Ethics (ISE) at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Lucerne since 2017. Since 2023, he has also been a visiting professor at the Chair of Neural Learning and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich and at the ETH AI Centre. Among other roles, Kirchschläger serves as president of Switzerland's Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH) and of the “Smart Lucerne Ethics Advisory Board” of the City of Lucerne.