just found this reflection called “The Christian Answer to Atheist Scientism” by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Papal Household. I’ll quote the first paragraph and then put in the link (an article in Zenit, 4th December).
zenit.org/article-31156?l=english
I’d respectfully request evangelical atheists to read the full article before trying to rebut it.
Anselm
Anselm, I have been reading this stuff for over 20 years now and whereas I agree with the debunking of ‘atheistic scientism’, which Catholics should have no fear of, to replace it with ‘modernistic scientism’, or as I prefer to call it
MODERNISM, is far more sinister to the faith of people as far as I am concerned.
Let me quote just one aberration from the link:
The new Blessed John Henry Newman has given us a luminous example of an open and constructive attitude to science. Nine years after the publication of Darwin’s work on the evolution of species, when not a few spirits around him were disturbed and perplexed, he reassured them, expressing a judgment that anticipated the Church’s present one on the compatibility of such a theory with biblical faith.
Here Newman is set up as the modern saint, but his opinions are not Church teachings, for the Church has NEVER TAUGHT THAT EVOLUTION OF SPECIES - AND OF THE HUMAN BODY - is COMPATIBLE WITH CHURCH TEACHING. Go read Pope Pius XII’s Humani Generis and see for yourself. He taught we could discuss it - WITH EQUAL TIME ALLOTTED BOTH SIDES - and BOTH SIDES must abide with the Church WHEN IT MAKES IT DECISION.
For me, any churchman that begins his homily with the above is worse than Dawkins. We know what Dawkins stands for, but Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Papal Household could be taken as knowing what the Church teaches thereby taking the faithful into error with him…
