A scientist and a priest

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Hello, I am a high school senior and currently going through discernment. I love the priesthood and I love the Church, but I also love science with a passion. Is there a way for me to become both?
 
You could get a teaching credential with a science major and teach at a Catholic High School or College.

Seems like a waste of priestly faculties to me, though. A layman with those credentials could teach just as well, but no layman can administer Sacraments.
 
Let’s see. How about Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Paleontologist, Geologist, Priest and philosopher?

And then there is this man, who came up with one of the most outstanding scientific theories of all time, regarding the “big bang” and the expanding universe. Scientist and Priest.
Georges Henri Joseph Édouard* Lemaître ***(7 July 1894 – 20 June 1966) was a Belgian priest, astronomer and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Louvain. He was the first person to propose the theory of the expansion of the Universe, widely misattributed to Edwin Hubble. He was also the first to derive what is now known as the Hubble’s law and made the first estimation of what is now called the Hubble constant, which he published in 1927, two years before Hubble’s article. Lemaître also proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, which he called his ‘hypothesis of the primeval atom’.
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These are just two of the most outstanding examples, but there are many more, Mendel being one of them. One can certainly combine priesthood with science or the teaching of science.

I hope you can work out a way so that you can serve God and others through your love for science.
 
Yeah man, I wish you all the success with both! I don’t know myself how one could go about becoming both and still be successful as a scientist, but there are many examples of people who managed to do that!

Also I think the world need people like that - there is a lot of stereotypical ideas out there, particularly among atheists, that there is a conflict between being religious and successfully doing science. I didn’t used to be like that in the past - in the past it seems like it was pretty natural… (thinking of e.g. Newton, Leibnitz, etc.) You need to help the world to fix that! 👍

Check out also a Polish priest and cosmologist Michal Heller - a very inspiring person.

God bless!
 
Yes there is. Perhaps You could become a Priest and teach Science at a Seminary or a truly Catholic, Catholic university?

I would like to Become a Priest and teach Philosophy.

May the SACRED HEART BLESS YOU MOST ABUNDANTLY for this Desire!!
 
Read the life of Blessed Nicholas Steno, father of modern geology, priest, bishop, and now on the path to Sainthood.

I have taken him as a patron for myself, a geologist wanna be.🙂
 
Don’t know what scientific field you’re interested in most, but the Vatican has an observatory and Jesuits are heavily involved with it. 🙂
 
I’m a sister and I teach science. It is such a witness to the faith to be able to point to the great scientific minds that have come forth from our faith. My students are always amazed by Gregor Mendel and it gives them a new perspective on religious life, God, and the Church. It is a great witness to have Catholics, and priests in a variety of areas of study.

I think its wonderful!

SM
 
Quoting from Eight Myths About Religious Life:

MYTH 2: Nuns teach and priests say Mass

Religious orders recognize that human beings are born with many gifts from God. One of the goals in religious life is to determine how an individual’s gifts can be used to serve God and the church. Attempting to fit people into positions for which they aren’t prepared or for which they have no talent is not a way to glorify God. While teaching and presiding at the Eucharist are two important ministries carried out by men and women in religious life, there are hundreds of other ways to serve. Within the ranks of religious life are doctors, lawyers, economists, writers, administrators, architects, engineers, scientists, artists, and actors. Religious life is a way to live, not a line of work.
vocationnetwork.org/articles/show/49
 
Keep in mind that parish priests have off time too. Between the Liturgy of the Hours, Masses, and various sacraments, they can do what they like (as long as it isn’t scandalous :P), and that could include writing a book or working on a mathematical proof. Not having a wife and kids can have its benefits :cool:
 
Dale_M said:
Quoting from Eight Myths About Religious Life:

MYTH 2: Nuns teach and priests say Mass

Religious orders recognize that human beings are born with many gifts from God. One of the goals in religious life is to determine how an individual’s gifts can be used to serve God and the church. Attempting to fit people into positions for which they aren’t prepared or for which they have no talent is not a way to glorify God. While teaching and presiding at the Eucharist are two important ministries carried out by men and women in religious life, there are hundreds of other ways to serve. Within the ranks of religious life are doctors, lawyers, economists, writers, administrators, architects, engineers, scientists, artists, and actors. Religious life is a way to live, not a line of work.
vocationnetwork.org/articles/show/49
Click to expand...
👍
 
The priest at my college has a Ph.D. in bioethics so that is one good example of combining science and religion. I am also currently set to graduate with a degree in biology and religious studies. And as others have mentioned there have been quite a few very good scientists within the Church. But there is always a need for religious people who understand science well so I think it is a great choice to incorporate them together in some way.
 
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