Vatican Cardinal Says We Should Listen to Science
Thursday, November 03, 2005
VATICAN CITY — A Vatican (search) 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 (search) was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' (search) 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.
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A fatwa on him!
Why do I have a feeling that the only part of this article that will be quoted in this thread is the last line?
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 8:58 pm Posts: 1148 Location: Green Bay
Here's the second half of the article.
Quote:
"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 (search) 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 (search) 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.
_________________ When the last living thing Has died on account of us, How poetical it would be If Earth could say, In a voice floating up Perhaps From the floor Of the Grand Canyon, "It is done. People did not like it here.''
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
Cardinal Paul Poupard wrote:
But he said science, too, should listen to religion.
I don't think religion has any place in science at all.
Quote:
"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."
Is this the only explanation for how religion can aid science?
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
But he said science, too, should listen to religion.
I don't think religion has any place in science at all.
Quote:
"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."
Is this the only explanation for how religion can aid science?
It's the age old "we can.... but should we?" question that always permiates science. Should we test for genetic flaws and abort babies who have them? How about human-animal hybrids? These must be moral decisions and w/o religion, morals get a bit murky.
I agree that religion should not reject any scientific theory on the basis that it conflicts with that religion's guiding principles.
Argh, I have to disagree with this. I've known tons of people that aren't overtly religious, but still have a great sense of right and wrong.
Didnt we have a thread about this recently? Anyway, my morals are NOT deteremined by my religion (as my statement may seem to have implied) as I have no religion other than science. But I do believe that "common" morals are grounded in religion, like the laws of ou society.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:49 pm Posts: 2525 Location: South Philadelphia Gender: Male
vacatetheword wrote:
Cardinal Paul Poupard wrote:
But he said science, too, should listen to religion.
I don't think religion has any place in science at all.
i agree with you, but i agree that we must take a good look at bioethics. and besides, i doubt a bishop of the catholic church would support bioethics without mentioning his own church.
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