In his audience with participants in the conference “Black holes, gravitational waves and space-time singularities” in memory of Fr. George Lemaître, Francisco emphasized the cosmologist’s theory that “creation and the Big Bang are two distinct realities” and that God “cannot be an object easily categorized by human reason.” “Faith and science can unite in charity if science is placed at the service of the men and women of our time,” said the Pope.
Mariangela Jaguraba – Vatican News
Pope Francis received in audience, this Thursday (20/06), in the Popes’ Hall, in the Vatican, the participants of the II Conference of the Vatican Astronomical Observatory (Specola Vaticana) in memory of Georges Lemaître entitled “Black holes, gravitational waves and spatio-temporal singularities”.
Francisco thanked and welcomed the scientists who gathered at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, to honor Fr. Georges Lemaître, seven years after the previous edition. “The scientific value of the Belgian priest and cosmologist was later recognized by the International Astronomical Union, which decided that the well-known Hubble law should more appropriately be called the Hubble-Lemaître law,” the Pope said at the beginning of his speech.
The Church promotes research into the beginning of the universe
“These days, you discuss the latest questions posed by scientific research in cosmology: the different results obtained when measuring the Hubble constant, the enigmatic nature of cosmological singularities (from the Big Bang to black holes) and the very current topic of gravitational waves” , underlined Francisco, recalling that “the Church is attentive to this research and promotes it, because it shakes the sensitivity and intelligence of men and women of our time.”
A moment from the audience with participants in the Vatican Observatory conference
Georges Lemaître was an exemplary priest and scientist
The beginning of the universe, its ultimate evolution, the deep structure of space and time place human beings in a frantic search for meaning, in a vast scenario where they run the risk of getting lost. This makes us rediscover the relevance of the psalmist’s words: «When I contemplate the sky, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you set. What is man, that you remember him? The human being, why do you visit him? You made him little less than a god, and crowned him with glory and splendor.” Therefore, it is clear that these themes have a particular relevance for Theology, Philosophy, Science and also for spiritual life.
“Georges Lemaître was an exemplary priest and scientist. His human and spiritual journey represents a model of life from which we can all learn”, Francis further noted.
To fulfill his father’s wishes, Georges Lemaître studied engineering. Afterwards, he enlisted in World War I and lived through its horrors. As an adult he followed his priestly and scientific vocation.
Group photo at the end of the hearing
Creation and the Big Bang are two distinct realities
“Initially, he believes that scientific truths are deposited in the Holy Scriptures in a veiled form. His human experiences and the consequent spiritual elaborations lead him to understand that science and faith follow two different and parallel paths, between which there is no conflict “, said the Pope, adding:
In fact, these paths can harmonize, because both science and faith, for those who believe, have the same matrix in the absolute Truth of God. His path of faith leads him to the awareness that creation and the Big Bang are two distinct realities, and that the God he believes in cannot be an object easily categorized by human reason, but is the “hidden God”, who It always remains in a dimension of mystery, not fully understandable.
Faith and science can unite in charity
The Pope told scientists to continue “debating with a just and humble spirit the topics you are discussing. May the freedom and lack of conditioning that you are experiencing at this conference help you to progress in your fields toward the Truth, which is certainly an emanation of the Charity of God”.
Faith and science can unite in charity if science is placed at the service of the men and women of our time, and not distorted to their detriment or even destruction. I encourage you to go to the peripheries of human knowledge: it is there that we can experience the God of Love, who satisfies and quenches the thirst of our hearts.
Greetings to the scientists present at the Vatican Observatory conference