Catholicism and Science

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Hi Guys - new to the forum so apologies if this should be posted elsewhere.

As a research scientist (biological sciences) and a practicing Catholic I have a particular interest the relationship between science and catholicism. Finding reference material on this is fairly difficult to track down, so any pointers that anyone on the forum might have would be much appreciated.

… there is aways an ‘and’ :),

does anyone have any specific prayers that they can point me towards that are geared towards guiding scientists in their work. An odd request I know, but I have a specific reason for asking this.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Here is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II on the relationship between faith and reason.
 
I hope this prayer helps
God bless

Prayer to Saint Albert the Great

Dear Scientist and Doctor of the Church, natural science always led you to the higher science of God. Though you had an encyclopedic knowledge, it never made you proud, for you regarded it as a gift of God. Inspire scientists to use their gifts well in studying the wonders of creation, thus bettering the lot of the human race and rendering greater glory to God. Amen.
 
Specific prayers are hard to find!
Of course you can take a prayer like the Rosary and offer it for any scientific intention – it could be general or even a very specific request.

You can check out New Advent for the Catholic Encyclopedia (also available here) for the relationship between science and the Church.

Good hunting and God bless!
 
I am not sure which week or day, but there is a prayer in the LOTH that begins, “Source of our science…”
 
You may find the history of the sciences and the Church very interesting by studying some of the great scientists in the Church. I don’t mean studying their work, but reading their lives. I can think of a couple:

Louis Pasteur
St. Giana Molla
Roger Bacon
Copernicus
St. Camillus
St. Maximilian Kolbe

Then there are the monasteries of the MIddle Ages
The Oxford Movement

Those are just a few off the top of my head.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
All wisdom and knowledge comes from God.

The scientific method searches for reality. Can the experiment be repeated?
There are also some questions to which we will never have the answer, where findings will always remain a theory. A theory may help with research and understanding, but the theory itself can never be proved and therefore can never be considered scientific fact.
 
DebChris said:
All wisdom and knowledge comes from God.

The scientific method searches for reality. Can the experiment be repeated?
There are also some questions to which we will never have the answer, where findings will always remain a theory. A theory may help with research and understanding, but the theory itself can never be proved and therefore can never be considered scientific fact.
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Yes, but the Church has made great contributions to scientific discoveries through the centuries and these discoveries are not theories. They are actual facts that work. Right now the Catholic Church operates the larges astronomics and physics observatory and lab in the world and the most expensive too. Part of it is in Rome and the other part of it is in Arizona. It’s so good that even NASA, the Russians, Chinese and Japanese use it.

Lay, clergy and religious have also made great contributions to science, most of them were very important discoveries such as how to pasteurize milk, the solar system or St. Maximilian Kolbe’s applications of mathematics and physics to geology. It saved thousands of lives when the A-bomb was dropped.

My point is that we Catholics have made great scientific discoveries and contributions to many scientific fiels from medicine to space travel and the Church considers it part of her mission to explore the sciences to help man better understand his role in the universe and God’s omnipotence, as well as promoting a better quality of life for man while on earth. That’s why the popes have always been so insistent on the study of science.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
You should check out the podcast “the catholic lab”. There is also a web page www.catholiclab.net and a facebook page. It is done by a scotch scientist, Ian Maxfield.

His first few podcasts link why and how the catholic church’s view of reason (more so than other religious or world views) advanced the cause of science in a profound way. I also like the series on cosmogony, even though I admit I did not understand it all.

He is currently profiling priest scientist, many of them Jesuits. I never realized what a great contribution they made to astronomy and seismology. Quite a few (I can’t remember the exact number) of the moon’s craters are named after Jesuit priest scientist. He also recommends reading, links, apps, etc that may be of help to you.

Another great series I found on iTunes was under the EWTN Audio files and is listed as episode 1, episode 2, etc, but was a series on EWTN television by the author of “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” The book would also be good.

Hope that helps.
 
JReducation said:
Yes, but the Church has made great contributions to scientific discoveries through the centuries and these discoveries are not theories. They are actual facts that work. Right now the Catholic Church operates the larges astronomics and physics observatory and lab in the world and the most expensive too. Part of it is in Rome and the other part of it is in Arizona. It’s so good that even NASA, the Russians, Chinese and Japanese use it.

Lay, clergy and religious have also made great contributions to science, most of them were very important discoveries such as how to pasteurize milk, the solar system or St. Maximilian Kolbe’s applications of mathematics and physics to geology. It saved thousands of lives when the A-bomb was dropped.

My point is that we Catholics have made great scientific discoveries and contributions to many scientific fiels from medicine to space travel and the Church considers it part of her mission to explore the sciences to help man better understand his role in the universe and God’s omnipotence, as well as promoting a better quality of life for man while on earth. That’s why the popes have always been so insistent on the study of science.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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We are in agreement. One need look no further than the earliest work in genetics.
I did not know about Maximilian Kolbe’s scientific work. My knowledge of his life is limited to the story of how he was offered two crowns by Mary, including the crown of martyrdom. He accepted both crowns, and offered his life for another.

The first college I attended was a Catholic college run by Benedictine monks. While he never personally spoke about it, the monk who taught chemistry was considered one of the top experts in his field at the time.
 
It seems to go in waves.

Middle Ages: orders that led the scientific fields

Benedictines
Franciscans
Domnicans

Renaissance:

Benedictines
Dominicans
Jesuits

Industrial Revolution:

Jesuits
Secular Franciscans
Benedictines
Dominicans

20th Century:

Jesuits
Secular Franciscans
Conventual Franciscans
Secular clergy

Through those years there were different congregations that led the way in areas such as healthcare and education, mostly brothers and sisters, such as the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Christian Brothers. The blackboard was invented by the Christian Brothers. Kids used individual slates up to that point.

Catholic lay men have always had prominence among scientists.

What is most interesting about the Franciscans involvement in science and university education is that they did not pick it up from the Benedictines or the Dominicans. They picked up their methods and their knowledge from the Muslims. This was one of the parts of the treaty that St. Francis made with the Sultan. One was to grant safe passage to the Franciscans to the Holy Land as long as the Franciscans did not try to make converts out of the Muslims. The other was an exchange of knowledge and culture between the Muslims and the friars. The Muslims had made great advances in medicine and math. The friars brought this back to Europe. But it was quickly given up to other orders whose proper charism was to teach.

But as a Church, we have made great contributions to science and we have used science as a means of communicating and working together peacefully with people of other faiths and political ideologies, except the Soviet Union who would never give the Church a chance. Even China, albeit with great caution, deals with Catholic scholars.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
marcella_1981 said:
Hi Guys - new to the forum so apologies if this should be posted elsewhere.

As a research scientist (biological sciences) and a practicing Catholic I have a particular interest the relationship between science and catholicism. Finding reference material on this is fairly difficult to track down, so any pointers that anyone on the forum might have would be much appreciated.

… there is aways an ‘and’ :),

does anyone have any specific prayers that they can point me towards that are geared towards guiding scientists in their work. An odd request I know, but I have a specific reason for asking this.

Many thanks in advance.
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Blessed be the Lord! 😉

It is rare to find any research scientists these days who openly profess a religion (let alone Catholicism).

That being said, have you heard of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) in Berkeley, California, affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union? They did some cooperative projects with the Vatican Observatory a long while back. Now, the CTNS is not a Catholic institution, but from what I understand they do some good work regarding cosmology as well as other topics which relate jointly to science and religion. Also, as a scientist, I’m sure you’ve heard of Prof. Stephen M Barr, a Catholic physicist (University of Delaware) who wrote a book called Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. Now, as for prayers, unfortunately I don’t have any, but I’m sure someone can assist you.

Welcome to CAF!

Paul R. Viola
(an undergraduate student and layman)
 
marcella_1981 said:
Hi Guys - new to the forum so apologies if this should be posted elsewhere.

As a research scientist (biological sciences) and a practicing Catholic I have a particular interest the relationship between science and catholicism. Finding reference material on this is fairly difficult to track down, so any pointers that anyone on the forum might have would be much appreciated.

… there is aways an ‘and’ :),

does anyone have any specific prayers that they can point me towards that are geared towards guiding scientists in their work. An odd request I know, but I have a specific reason for asking this.

Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I don’t know any prayers, but there are two 20th century scientists who are saints, St. Giana Molla and St. Maximilian Kolbe. Why don’t you pray to them?

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
And do not forget about the works involving evolution(though some of his ideas were discouraged by the Vatican) by the French paleontologist, Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.I. If you wish to pray to an earth-scientist, there is the Blessed Nicolaus Steno, who converted from Lutheranism and became a bishop.
 
Young_Thinker said:
And do not forget about the works involving evolution(though some of his ideas were discouraged by the Vatican) by the French paleontologist, Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.I. If you wish to pray to an earth-scientist, there is the Blessed Nicolaus Steno, who converted from Lutheranism and became a bishop.
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I usually do not recommend the writings of Fr. de Chardin to the person in the pew, unless he or she has a strong background in philosophy and cosomology, because some of the points that Fr. de Chardin makes are very good, but others are very wrong, but sound good. You really need to read him with a critical eye.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
JReducation said:
I usually do not recommend the writings of Fr. de Chardin to the person in the pew, unless he or she has a strong background in philosophy and cosomology, because some of the points that Fr. de Chardin makes are very good, but others are very wrong, but sound good. You really need to read him with a critical eye.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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Indeed, you do. I thank you for emphasizing that, Brother.
 
Plenty of priests and religious within the Church had earlier lives in the sciences. Many orders still actively encourage their members to retain their professions, e.g., the Jesuits. The Jesuits are in charge of the Vatican observatory, and are actively engaged in scientific research. I myself have a background in clinical pharmacology and internal medicine, and have just given up a long academic career (tenured professor) to begin studying for the priesthood at age 52 years! Nothing is impossible for God.
 
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