B.A.

Vatican: Faithful should listen to science

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason.

Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, made the comments at a news conference on a Vatican project to help end the "mutual prejudice" between religion and science that has long bedeviled the Roman Catholic Church and is part of the evolution debate in the United States.

The Vatican project was inspired by Pope John Paul II's 1992 declaration that the church's 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

"The permanent lesson that the Galileo case represents pushes us to keep alive the dialogue between the various disciplines, and in particular between theology and the natural sciences, if we want to prevent similar episodes from repeating themselves in the future," Poupard said.

But he said science, too, should listen to religion.

"We know where scientific reason can end up by itself: the atomic bomb and the possibility of cloning human beings are fruit of a reason that wants to free itself from every ethical or religious link," he said.

"But we also know the dangers of a religion that severs its links with reason and becomes prey to fundamentalism," he said.

"The faithful have the obligation to listen to that which secular modern science has to offer, just as we ask that knowledge of the faith be taken in consideration as an expert voice in humanity."

Poupard and others at the news conference were asked about the religion-science debate raging in the United States over evolution and "intelligent design."

Intelligent design's supporters argue that natural selection, an element of evolutionary theory, cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.

Monsignor Gianfranco Basti, director of the Vatican project STOQ, or Science, Theology and Ontological Quest, reaffirmed John Paul's 1996 statement that evolution was "more than just a hypothesis."

"A hypothesis asks whether something is true or false," he said. "(Evolution) is more than a hypothesis because there is proof."

He was asked about comments made in July by Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who dismissed in a New York Times article the 1996 statement by John Paul as "rather vague and unimportant" and seemed to back intelligent design.

Basti concurred that John Paul's 1996 letter "is not a very clear expression from a definition point of view," but he said evolution was assuming ever more authority as scientific proof develops.

Poupard, for his part, stressed that what was important was that "the universe wasn't made by itself, but has a creator." But he added, "It's important for the faithful to know how science views things to understand better."

The Vatican project STOQ has organized academic courses and conferences on the relationship between science and religion and is hosting its first international conference on "the infinity in science, philosophy and theology," next week.
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On the Net: Vatican project STOQ: http://www.stoqnet.org

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It's seems like a logical step in the right direction to me.

Tommy Ceez

JPII had the same opinion

Numanoid

That's cool. In my opinion, science is just our way of figuring out God's processes. In my world, they go hand-in-hand.

B.A.

I know. It's just nice to hear that the Church is willing to change its view on things (albeit slowly).

Jadzia

Most of the people in this country who don't listen to science, don't listen to the Vatican, do they?

Tommy Ceez

But we get abused along with ALL Christians around here, so its nice to have the vatican cover our ass.

mrpayroll

Unless scientists totally disavow any possibility that there is a God! And there are many of them (the majority?) that don't believe in a 'god', because it is not fact.

Chris

AGuyNamedMike

AGuyNamedMike

Same type of scientists that refused to accept Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery because it contradicted what they considered "fact".

movielib

I don't see how what the vast majority of scientists think about god has anything to do with it. Science is done pretty much the same by most scientists whether they believe in god or not. The exception, I think, is certain fundamentalist scientists who need science to conform with whatever they thing the Bible (or the Qur'an or whatever) says.

Tommy Ceez

And who says that scientists are the people best equiped to use scientific knowledge in persuit of the mysteries of life? Thats like saying you cant look at a flower and marvel at gods works because the landscaper is a athiest.

mrpayroll

Well my point was, the religious folks (Catholics) are giving the dog (scientists) a bone, so now it is time for the scientific folks to acknowledge that it is possible that all of this 'science' crap could be God's creation!

Chris

kvrdave

Like Michael Behe.

Good for the Vatican. I don't know how much real sway they have anymore, but nice to have them say something about it.

Groucho

This is nothing new. I went to Catholic high school and university, and evolution was the order of the day in the science classroom. Religion was taught seperately.

There are Catholic creationists, but not a lot.

mrpayroll

What?

Your parents should get their money back!

Chris

MrX

Other than a Pope or two the Vatican, atleast in the last century, has been supporitve of science.

Bronkster

And so will his clone.

Numanoid

Giantrobo

Good for the Vatican.

DVD Polizei

What Paul Poupard really meant to say was:

"Hey everyone. We should listen to science, but you science people need to listen to us more."

gracie

I have yet to see any scientific research that has disproven anything about Christianity and I have yet to see anything from the Bible or Christian theology that conflicts with science. Everything in the Bible is not literal and normative. Much of the conflict between science and Christianity is because there is too much ignorance about both.

Baron Of Hell

Religion without science is blind. Science without religion is lame.

So you don't think the age of the world is in conflict between science and religion?

mrpayroll

That's what I'm saying.

Chris

gracie

Not unless you believe that creation took place in a literal 7 days...

mrpayroll

Uhhhh, actually it was 6 days. The Big Guy was pretty tired and took the 7th day off!

Chris