The Catholic ChurchandScientific Culture

The experience of past ages, the progress of the sciences, and the treasures hidden in the various forms of human culture, by all of which the nature of man himself is more clearly revealed and new roads to truth are opened, these profit the Church, too. […]the Church requires the special help of those who live in the world, are versed in different institutions and specialties, and grasp their innermost significance in the eyes of both believers and unbelievers.(Paolo VI; Gaudiumetspes, n. 44)

Today's spiritual agitation and the changing conditions of life are part of a broader and deeper revolution. As a result of the latter, intellectual formation is ever increasingly based on the mathematical and natural sciences and on those dealing with man himself, while in the practical order the technology which stems from these sciences takes on mounting importance.This scientific spirit has a new kind of impact on the cultural sphere and on modes of thought.

[…] Advances in biology, psychology, and the social sciences not only bring men hope of improved self-knowledge; in conjunction with technical methods, they are helping men exert direct influence on the life of social groups.

[…] Thus, the human race has passed from a rather static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evolutionary one. In consequence there has arisen a new series of problems, a series as numerous as can be, calling for efforts of analysis and synthesis.

(Paolo VI; Gaudiumetspes, n. 5)

PART II

1st mode: The vision of the world, of life and of man that derives from Revelation engages with specific visions/philosophical positions coming from some interpretations/extrapolations of scientific results

Christianity is in fact the guardian of a vision of the world, of life and of man.

- The world as a “creation”: it has a beginning and there is a goal towards which it aims

- Created by the Word, the Christian world is filled with purpose and sense: all that is created responds to the explicit will of God

- God can be known starting from the created realities: man has the skill to know reality and to recognise in it the mark of his Creator

  • The human being benefits from the dignity of being the only creature created in God’s own image and likeliness. The human being shares with the created world the material-corporal condition, but he doesn’t complete himself into it. God gives him His spirit.
  • The human being is appointed with the task of dominating the earth and completing its creation, which is still underway (in via): how can this task be interpreted?
  • The dignity of human work, and thus of the scientific work, in the task of humanising the earth
  • The Christian sense of progress and the way to interpret the authentic human progress

There are, therefore, “potential divergences” between Christianity and the philosophical vision that can emerge in some representations/presentations of sciences

  • The Christian Revelation goes against “materialism” and “pantheism”, two philosophical visions that have always posed a tempting scientific representation of the world, and their continuous relevance and potential conflict with Christianity.
  • The Christian anthropology goes against the “materialist reductionism” according to which the human being is only an animal, whose specific characteristics (self-reflection, self-consciousness, rationality, freedom, etc) don’t transcend the matter.
  • The purposefulness of the Christian universe goes against the philosophical vision according to which the development of the physical and biological world is a pure consequence of chance, without the presence of any purpose. The improper use of the philosophical notion of chance in some scientific representations of the world favours the idea that science, unlike Christian faith, supports a totally accidental vision of the world’s and of man’s history.

Among the main philosophical currents/visions derived from some interpretations/extrapolations of sciences’ results on which the Christian faith has taken or takes a stand, we list in historical order:

  • The deist deviation of the mechanicism of the 17th and 18th century: repercussions on the way of seeing the relationship between God and nature
  • The scientific-rational dimension of the age of Enlightenment and its anti-Catholic commitment
  • Positivism at the end of the 18th century and its anti-metaphysical programme
  • The scientific rationalism and the scientism of the 19th century, and the strengthening of secularism in opposition to Christianity

The historical materialism and its application to the scientific thinking in the Dialectics of Nature

  • The logical neopositivism of the early 20th century and the delegitimation of theology
  • The critique to religion coming from the Freudian psychanalysis
  • The crisis of the veritative dimension of sciences and the mistrust of the metaphysical capabilities of philosophical reason
  • The contemporary relativist spirit and the restraint of religion to the private-subjective sphere
  • The movement of “third culture” as an attempt to entrust the scientific thinking with the steering of strategic socio-political decisions for mankind’s future

2nd mode: Existence of ethical issues, caused by the technical and scientific progress, to which the Catholic Church dedicates specific speeches

  • Subjects linked to the medical profession and to scientific research in the medical-biological field

-Several speeches of Popes to international medical organisations

-Speeches of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care and of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum

-Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care

-CartadegliOperatoriSanitari (1994)

-John Paul II, Salvificidoloris (1984)

  • The non-permissibility to use human embryos for experimentation, including the destructive withdrawal of embryonal stem cells, human cells cloning, and in general the respect due to the first stages of human life

-Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Istruzione “Donum Vitae” (1987)

-John Paul II, Speech toPASc (2003)

-Several speeches of John Paul II to scientific Meetings

-Several documents of the Pontifical Academy for Life

The non-permissibility of euthanasia and ways of providing health care to terminally-ill patients

-Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Dichiarazionesull’Eutanasia (1980)

-Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Alcunequestionietiche relative aimalatigravi e morenti (1981); Dichiarazione Vita artificiale e trapianti (1985), John Paul II, Evangelium vitae (1995), nn. 64-67, 105

  • The permissibility of organ transplantations and the moral responsibility in verifying the moment of death

-Several speeches of Popes to international medical Organisations

-John Paul II, speech at the meeting promoted by PASc on “Determinazione del momentodellamorte” (1989)

-John Paul II, speech at the XVIII International Congress of the Transplantation Society (2000)

The moral responsibility linked to the conservation of the environment and the purpose that should steer such conservation

-Several speeches of John Paul II at scientific Meetings

-John Paul II, Pace con Diocreatore, pace con tuttoilcreato (1989)

  • The moral responsibility linked to the wise use of the planet’s resources and their distribution

-Several speeches of John Paul II at the PASc’s study meetings

  • The sense of human progress and its relationship with scientific and economic progress

-Gaudiumetspes, nn. 33-45; 63-72

-Paul VI, Populorumprogressio (1967)

-John Paul II, Laboremexercens (1981)

-Specific references in various documents on the social doctrine of the Church

3rdmode: call to the role of natural sciences in theology

  • This subject hasn’t been developed much in the Catholic magisterium of the 19th century, but it is however oriented to reiterate the absence of any conflict and the separation between different orders of knowledge

-Leone XIII, Providentissimus Deus (1893) and more in general the biblical Magisterium

  • The commissions of theologians who recognise miracles for canonisation processes have been using science for some time for their investigations

-Benedetto XIV, Opus de Servorum Dei beatificatione et Beatorumcanonizatione (1747)

-Code of Canon Law (1983)

  • Vatican Council II: the knowledge of scientific thinking is necessary for ministers and theologians because:
  • It shapes the way of thinking of men of our time;
  • It allows ministers and theologians to engage with the culture of our time;
  • It allows preachers to develop a more convincing catechesis

4thmode: channels of dissemination and specific Organisms through which the message of the Catholic Church is delivered to / engages with the scientific world

  • Speeches of Roman Popes at scientific Conventions
  • Speeches or messages to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and to the Pontifical Academy for Life
  • Meeting events of the Roman Pope and also of individual Bishops with Academic Communities, Universities, teachers and students
  • Documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith that aim at clarifying, in an official manner, some ethical issues linked to technical and scientific subjects (in particular, but not limited to, medical-biological issues)
  • Documents of the Pontifical Council for Culture, basically of cultural and pastoral nature, that aim at providing directions and at reminding general principles

The world of culture and of scientists represents one of the privileged interlocutors of the proclamation of the Gospel, because of the influence that it has on ideas, but also on peoples’ life.

When it sends messages and contents related to the relationship between Christianity and scientific culture, the Church addresses the “scientific world” as, for example, in the “message to scientists” delivered by the Vatican Council II.

The “scientific world”, however, shouldn’t be considered an interlocutor “facing” the Church, because, among the members of the Church, there are obviously scientists and scholars of Catholic faith.

Pontifical Council for Culture

Department of the Roman Curia. It assists the Pope in His supreme pastoral Office, in what concerns the relation between the Gospel and cultures, the study of serious divisions between the Gospel and culture, the study of religious indifference and disbelief. It deals with the relationship between the Church and the Holy See with the culture’s world, and with scholars of science, literature and arts.

Chaired by H.E. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

For the study of issues of outstanding relevance, the Pontifical Council for Culture interacts with Consultants nominated ad quinquennium by the Pope: 26 specialists in the field of culture or in engaging with non-believers, spread in all continents. They assist the Department through their research, information and opinion.

The Pontifical Council carries out a work of coordination between cultural professionals within the Catholic Church and provides pastoral directions

However, the Council deals directly with important initiatives such as:

  • The study and the final conclusions of the so-called “reopening” of the Galileo Case (1979-1992)
  • The various relationships with the mass media on issues regarding the Church and sciences (e.g. attending and fostering various events)
  • The promotion of the study and of the debate with sciences in the Ecclesiastical Universities

Among the most recent and relevant documents:

-Gesù Cristo, portatore di acqua viva. Unariflessionecristianasul “New Age” (2002)

-Per unapastoraledellaCultura (1999)

-La presenzadellaChiesanell’Università (1994)

Pontifical Academy for Life

Founded in 1994, it focuses on the study, the education and the information regarding the main problems of bio-medicine and of law, in relation to the promotion and the defence of life, in particular for the relationship that these issues have with the Christian ethics and the guidelines of the Magisterium of the Church.

It consists of 70 members appointed by the Pope, plus 3 members ad honorem.

Prof. Jerome Lejeune was the first Chairman.

It is currently chaired by the Chilean scientist prof. Juan Vial Correa and Mons. ElioSgreccia is the vice-president.

The board is formed by 5 academics appointed by the Pope

It benefits from the collaboration of correspondent members

Pontifical Academy of Sciences

* On the occasion of the presentation of the results of the commission of studies on the Galileo case, 31st October 1992

The role of philosophical perspectives in the processing of scientific theories – Criteria for a right biblical hermeneutics – The irruption of a new discipline forces a reflection on other fields of knowledge – Epistemological and cultural aspects of the Galileo case

* On some issues regarding man’s evolution, 22nd October 1996

The exegete and the theologian must keep up with the results of natural sciences – The evolutionary theory of man can’t be considered a mere hypothesis - All scientific theories borrow some categories of philosophy of nature – Human soul, the foundation of human dignity, can’t be reduced to matter – Human life, God’s gift, represents an ontological discontinuity with reference to the development of other physical and biological realities

* On the humanistic dimension of scientific research, 13th November 2000

The various aspects of the humanistic dimension of science: epistemological and anthropological areas – The call to ethical responsibility in the scientific activity comes from within the activity of a scientist – Science as a personal and engaging activity – Truth, freedom and responsibility are linked in the experience of a scientist

PART III

The Galileo Case

  • This is a subject that remains in the “background” of the relationship between the Church and Science
  • This “case” starts in the second half of the 19th century, following the division between some political-cultural schools of thought and the Catholic Church: this results in the public perception of a wound that needs healing
  • The Vatican Council II acknowledges some responsibilities linked to Churchmen (Gaudium et spes, n. 36)
  • John Paul II promotes the formation of a Commission whose aim is to go back and study the historical and cultural elements of the event (1979) (apparently, the goal was pastoral and of public opinion rather than scientific: the theological aspects had already been solved by then)
  • The results of the Commission are presented to John Paul II in 1992 by Cardinal Paul Poupard
  • From an historical point of view, the Commission hasn’t added new elements that improve the understanding of the whole case

The Church and biological evolution

  • The Catholic Church didn’t take an official stand following the presentation of Darwin’s theory on the origin of man (1859, 1871). The reactions of Catholic scientists and theologians were various.
  • In the second half of the 20th century, the biological evolution was taken for granted;however, various other theories (evolutionary theories) emerged in addition to the Darwinian one
  • Pope Pius XII made the first relevant statement in Humani generis (1950): regarding the evolutionary hypothesis, he claims that while the human body can be the result of biological evolution of inferior species, the human soul [and therefore the human being as such], is created immediately by God
  • John Paul II made several speeches claiming complete compatibility between creation and evolution. In particular between creation and evolutionary theories (1996)
  • The Catholic Magisterium didn’t want to get involved in the debate between creationists and evolutionists that started recently in the USA

[…]Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.(Pio XII, Humani generis, IV - 1950)[1]

Bioethical issues

The Catholic Magisterium faced coherently the various ethical issues with a good timing with reference to their appearance in the public debate. Today the Catholic Magisterium has clear positions relative to all the main issues posed by the development of scientific applications:

  • Transplantations, xenotransplantation, experiments of human embryos, artificial support to vegetative life, patient care in particular situations, techniques for artificial human reproduction, but also
  • Sustainable development, environmental conservation and defence.
  • Regarding the issues that are still being discussed (e.g. genetically modified organisms, the definition of the moment of death, etc. …), the Organisms related to the Holy See have provided statements and orientations.

The fundamental positions and directions of the Catholic Magisterium in bioethics are contained in the following documents:

  • Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Istruzione “Donum vitae” sulrispettodella vita nascente (1987)
  • John Paul II, the encyclical“Evangelium vitae” (1995)
  • Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, Cartadeglioperatorisanitari (1994): it is made of three parts, “ilgenerare”, “ilvivere” e “ilmorire” as a deontological code, and it gathers the Magisterium of the Church, from Pius XII to John Paul II, relative to the acknowledgement and the protection of the value of human life in the field of healthcare.
  • Pontifical Academy for Life, Eticadellaricercabiomedica. Proposta di impegnoetico per iricercatori in ambitobiomedico (2003)

These are documents that, together with the teachings of Christian Revelation, always provide an ethical foundation in terms of natural law, phenomenology and common sense.

From the COMPENDIUM OF THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH

Modern times call for an intensive educational effort[433]and a corresponding commitment on the part of all so that the quest for truthcannot be ascribed to the sum of different opinions, nor to one or another of these opinions — will be encouraged in every sector and will prevail over every attempt to relativize its demands or to offend it[434]. This is an issue that involves the world of public communications and that of the economy in a particular way. In these areas, the unscrupulous use of money raises ever more pressing questions, which necessarily call for greater transparency and honesty in personal and social activity. (n. 198 )

The media must be used to build up and sustain the human community in its different sectors: economic, political, cultural, educational and religious.[848] “The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good. Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity”.[849]