Terms of Use

1. Who we are These Terms of Service (the "Terms") govern your access to and use of the website benedictxvisociety.org, including its subdomains such as research.benedictxvisociety.org ("Benedict AI"), and the content, newsletters, events, donation facilities, and other services made available through them (together, the "Services"). The Services are operated by Benedict Society, a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of Michigan, United States of America, operating as the "Benedict XVI Society", with its principal office at 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1025, Washington, DC 20006, United States (the "Society", "we", "us", "our"). The Society is recognized as exempt from U.S. federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN 93-2468503. Contact: info@benedictxvisociety.org | +1 202 559 9200 2. Acceptance of these Terms By accessing or using the Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services. If you use the Services on behalf of an institution (for example a parish, diocese, university, or religious community), you represent that you are authorized to bind that institution, and "you" includes it. 3. Eligibility The Services are intended for users who are at least 16 years old. If you are under the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction, you may use the Services only with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian, and you may not make donations. 4. Changes to these Terms We may amend these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the Services or in applicable law. The current version, with its effective date, will always be posted on this page. For material changes we will provide reasonable advance notice on the Site or, where we have your email address, by email. If you continue to use the Services after the effective date of the amended Terms, you accept them. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Services. Amendments do not affect donations already made. 5. The Services The Services currently include: 1. informational and educational content on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI, spirituality, liturgy, and related subjects; 2. announcements of, and registration information for, events, retreats, formation programs, and conferences (including events held in the United States, Italy, Germany, and elsewhere); 3. email newsletters and updates; 4. Benedict AI, an AI-powered research tool built on the theological and philosophical corpus of Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI and related ecclesial texts (see Section 8); and 5. the ability to make charitable donations through a third-party donation platform (see Section 9). We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Services at any time. As a nonprofit organization, we provide the Services free of charge and without any commitment to a particular service level. 6. Intellectual property; license to you 6.1 Our content. The Services and their content, including text, translations, commentary, images, graphics, logos, page layouts, and software, are owned by the Society or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws of the United States, Italy, the European Union, and other jurisdictions. 6.2 Third-party and ecclesial texts. Writings of Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI, papal encyclicals and other magisterial documents, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, and other third-party works that appear in the Services are used with the permission of, or under license from, the respective rights holders (including, where applicable, Libreria Editrice Vaticana and other publishers). Rights in those works remain with their owners, and you may not reproduce them beyond the limited license below without authorization from the relevant rights holder. 6.3 Your license. Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Services, and to view, download, and print content, for personal, non-commercial, educational, pastoral, or scholarly purposes. Quotation for academic purposes with proper attribution is permitted to the extent allowed by applicable copyright law (for example, fair use or statutory quotation rights). Any other use, including systematic downloading, republication, redistribution, commercial exploitation, or creation of derivative databases or datasets (including for training machine-learning models), requires our prior written consent and, where applicable, that of the underlying rights holders. Permission requests: info@benedictxvisociety.org. 6.4 Names and marks. "Benedict XVI Society", "Benedict AI", and our logos are names and marks of the Society. You may not use them, or imply any affiliation with or endorsement by the Society, without our prior written consent. 7. Acceptable use You agree not to: 1. use the Services in violation of any applicable law or regulation, or for any fraudulent or harmful purpose; 2. infringe the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any person; 3. upload or transmit malware, or interfere with, disrupt, probe, or circumvent the security or proper functioning of the Services; 4. access the Services by automated means (scraping, crawling, bulk downloading, or API abuse) except through interfaces we expressly provide, and not for the purpose of building competing datasets or training AI models; 5. misrepresent your identity or affiliation, or impersonate any person or institution; 6. use the Services to send unsolicited communications or to harvest contact data; or 7. present output of the Services, including Benedict AI output, as an official statement of the Society, of the Holy See, or of any ecclesiastical authority. 8. Benedict AI 8.1 Nature of the tool. Benedict AI is an artificial intelligence system. You are interacting with software, not with a human being. Responses are generated automatically, on the basis of a curated corpus of texts, using large language model technology. This notice is provided, among other reasons, for the purposes of the transparency obligations of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the EU AI Act). 8.2 No authority; no advice. Benedict AI output is AI-generated research assistance. It is not a magisterial, doctrinal, or official statement of the Catholic Church, the Holy See, the estate of Joseph Ratzinger, or the Society, and it does not constitute theological, canonical, legal, medical, psychological, or other professional advice, nor spiritual direction, catechesis, or pastoral care. Always verify citations against the original texts and consult qualified persons (for example your pastor, spiritual director, or a professional adviser) before relying on any output. 8.3 Accuracy. AI systems can produce inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading output, including incorrect quotations or citations. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for purpose of any output. You are responsible for your use of output. 8.4 Your inputs. You must not submit to Benedict AI: (a) personal data of third parties without a lawful basis; (b) special categories of personal data concerning identifiable persons (for example health data or data concerning another person's religious beliefs); (c) confidential information you are not entitled to share, including matter subject to the seal of confession or professional secrecy; or (d) unlawful, defamatory, or abusive content. Please avoid including your own sensitive personal data in prompts; the tool does not need it. 8.5 Rights in inputs and outputs. You retain your rights in your inputs. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to process inputs and outputs to operate, secure, evaluate, and improve Benedict AI. Neither we nor our Benedict AI provider use your inputs to train general-purpose AI models. To the extent we hold any rights in output, we grant you a non-exclusive license to use output for the purposes permitted in Section 6.3, subject to Sections 7 and 8.2. Output may be similar or identical to output provided to other users, and underlying source texts remain subject to Section 6.2. 8.6 Availability and limits. We may impose usage limits, require registration, or suspend Benedict AI at any time, including to protect the integrity of the corpus or comply with law. 9. Donations 9.1 Processing. Donations are processed through third-party platforms and payment processors, currently Givebutter (givebutter.com). Your payment is handled by the platform and its payment processors under their own terms and privacy policies. We do not receive or store full payment card numbers. 9.2 Charitable gifts. Donations are voluntary charitable contributions, not payments for goods or services. Unless expressly stated otherwise (for example for certain event tickets), you receive no goods or services in return for a donation. 9.3 Refunds. Donations are generally non-refundable. If you believe a donation was made in error, in an unintended amount, or without authorization, contact us at info@benedictxvisociety.org within 30 days and we will review the matter in good faith and in accordance with applicable law and the rules of the payment platform. 9.4 Recurring donations. You may cancel a recurring donation at any time through the donation platform or by contacting us. Cancellation takes effect for charges processed after we or the platform receive your request. 9.5 Designated gifts. Where you designate a donation for a specific purpose, we will use reasonable efforts to honor the designation. If a designated purpose becomes fully funded, impracticable, or impossible, you agree that we may apply the funds to a substantially similar purpose or to our general charitable mission. 9.6 Tax treatment. For U.S. taxpayers, donations are deductible to the extent permitted by law; we provide acknowledgments consistent with IRS requirements. For donors outside the United States, including in the EU, deductibility depends on the law of your country of residence; a donation to a U.S. charity is frequently not deductible abroad. Consult your tax adviser. Donors in Germany may contact Fundatio Christiana Virtus e.V., Mohrengäßle 6, 73525 Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, (fundatio-christiana-virtus.de), for information about donation options available through that German nonprofit organization. The availability and tax treatment of any donation route depend on the applicable arrangements and law. 9.7 Compliance. We may decline, return, or refund any donation, including for legal, sanctions, anti-money-laundering, or reputational reasons. 10. Events Event announcements on the Site are invitations to register, not binding offers. Specific events may have their own terms (for example capacity limits, admission requirements, photography and recording notices, or cancellation rules), which will be communicated with the event and prevail over these Terms for that event. We may modify or cancel events; where a paid event is cancelled by us, we will refund event fees paid to us. We are not responsible for travel or accommodation costs. 11. User submissions If you send us content (for example inquiries, testimonials, prayer intentions, applications, or feedback), you retain your rights in it, and you grant the Society a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and process it as needed to operate the Services, respond to you, and pursue our charitable mission, consistent with our Privacy Policy. You represent that you have the necessary rights in what you submit. Unsolicited ideas or proposals are received on a non-confidential basis. We may decline to publish, or may remove, any submission at our discretion. 12. Third-party services and links The Services contain links to, and integrations with, third-party websites and services (for example Givebutter, partner institutions, and social media). We do not control and are not responsible for their content, terms, or privacy practices. Your use of them is at your own risk and subject to their terms. 13. Privacy Our processing of personal data in connection with the Services is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of the information we provide to you but is not a contractual document. 14. Disclaimers The Services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement, and we do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free. Content on the Services is provided for religious, educational, and informational purposes only. Nothing in this Section excludes or limits any warranty or right that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including mandatory rights of consumers in the European Union, the European Economic Area, or the United Kingdom. 15. Limitation of liability To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: 1. we will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, goodwill, or opportunity, arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms; and 2. our aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) USD 100 and (b) the amounts you paid to us (excluding donations already applied to charitable purposes) in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for intent or gross negligence, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under the laws applicable to you, including under mandatory consumer protection law of your country of habitual residence. 16. Indemnification To the extent permitted by applicable law, and except where you use the Services as a consumer in a jurisdiction where such obligations are unenforceable, you will indemnify and hold harmless the Society and its directors, officers, employees, and volunteers from claims, damages, and reasonable costs (including attorneys' fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your submissions, or your unlawful use of the Services. 17. Suspension and termination We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Services (including Benedict AI) at any time if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms or applicable law, or to protect the Services, other users, or third parties. Sections 6, 8.2, 8.3, 9, 11, and 13 through 19 survive termination. You may stop using the Services at any time. 18. Governing law, jurisdiction, and mandatory consumer rights 18.1 These Terms, and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Services, are governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, United States of America, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. 18.2 Subject to Section 18.3, the state and federal courts located in the District of Columbia have exclusive jurisdiction, and each party consents to their jurisdiction and venue. 18.3 If you access the Services as a consumer with habitual residence in the European Union, the European Economic Area, or the United Kingdom, nothing in these Terms deprives you of the protection of provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence that cannot be derogated from by agreement, and you may bring proceedings, and may only be sued, in the courts of your country of habitual residence where mandatory law so provides. 19. General provisions 19.1 Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect, and the invalid provision will be replaced by a valid one that best reflects its purpose. 19.2 No waiver. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. 19.3 Assignment. You may not assign these Terms. We may assign them to a successor of our charitable activities or to an affiliated entity. 19.4 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with any event-specific or program-specific terms we communicate to you, are the entire agreement between you and the Society regarding the Services. 19.5 Force majeure. We are not liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control. 19.6 Language. These Terms are drafted in English. If we provide translations for convenience, the English version prevails to the extent permitted by applicable law. 20. Contact Benedict Society (operating as the "Benedict XVI Society") 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1025, Washington, DC 20006, United States Phone: +1 202 559 9200 Email: info@benedictxvisociety.org