Religion and Sciene

     Yesterday we had the pleasure of traveling to Castelgandolfo where the Pope's summer house is located.  It is a quaint little town right on a gorgeous lake and inactive volcano.  We met Brother Guy Consolmagno who was a Jesuit brother who is an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory.  He explained to us some of the history of the Catholic church and science and debunked the myth that Catholic Popes did not support science.  He told us the majority of Catholic Popes do indeed support the research of science and have hopes that science and religion can coexist and bring us closer to God.  

He mentioned Pope Urban the 8th who we've learned about previously and how he was a liberal Pope who changed the way the Catholics viewed science in the world.  Brother Guy explained that the widely held view that Catholics opposed religion was created by Anglo-Saxon Americans during the age of immigrants of Catholics into America.  This was an interesting fact because previously I had thought that Catholics truly did not want science to impose on the religious values presently held. 

     Brother Guy was a living example of a Jesuit in the present day.  He was both a brother and astronomer, out in the world actively seeking knowledge and spreading faith and education.  In the past he was a professor at an American university and in the peace corps teaching science to young people in Kenya.  It is no surprise that he became a Jesuit because he clearly loves teaching and spreading knowledge to everyone.  I really liked his presentation he gave to us and all of the misconceptions he cleared up that in the past have been troubling to people when pondering religion and science.  

Panoramic view of the lake and volcano at Castelgandolfo

Outside of the Vatican Observatory