The meeting will also honour Georges Lemaître, the priest who first proposed the Big Bang theory.

The event, scheduled for 16-21 June, will feature 40 leading experts in cosmology, relativity and quantum theory. The gathering aims to foster dialogue and find common ground between these often-conflicting scientific fields.

"We think we have put together a dream team that we vehemently hope will lead to some innovative thinking" said Fabio Scardigli, a theoretical physicist from the Polytechnic Institute of Milan and one of the event's organisers.

Established in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII, the Vatican Observatory, known as Specola Vaticana, seeks to promote dialogue between faith and science.

The conference is part of this ongoing mission.

Key participants include:

• Nobel laureates Adam Riess and Roger Penrose
• Andrei Linde and Joseph Silk, pioneers in cosmology
• Wendy Freedman, known for her research on the universe's expansion
• Licia Verde, an expert in dark matter and energy
• Cumrun Vafa, renowned for his studies in geometry and quantum physics
• Edward Witten, a leading figure in string theory

Openness to reflect

On 19 June, participants will meet with Pope Francis who is expected to deliver a speech.

Brother Guy Consolmagno, the director of the Vatican Observatory, highlighted the Church's historical contributions to physics.

"I was a scientist for 20 years before I joined the Jesuits, and the most common reaction from fellow scientists was a freedom from them to tell me about the churches they belong to" he said.

Consolmagno also noted that there is an openness to reflect on existential questions in fields like cosmology.

The observatory in Castel Gandolfo offers a neutral ground for scientists to engage in unencumbered dialogue.

"It's a place where scientists, researchers and academics can feel free to speak unencumbered by academic structures where they are bound to one type of theoretical current or another" said Rev. Gabriele Gionti, the observatory's vice- director.

Hubble-Lemaître Law

In 2022, Gionti and Rev Matteo Galaverni, a priest from Reggio Emilia-Guastalla, proposed a new way to study gravity after the Big Bang. Their work was well-received in the scientific community, emphasising the ongoing relevance of the Vatican's scientific contributions.

Georges Lemaître, born in Belgium in 1894, was a significant figure in physics and theology. His early work on the expanding universe laid the groundwork for what would later be known as quantum gravity.

Despite initial opposition from Albert Einstein, Lemaître's theories have gained recognition, with the International Astronomical Union renaming the Hubble Law to the Hubble-Lemaître Law in 2018.

Quoting St John Paul II, Consolmagno stated "Truth is the goal, and for those of us who believe that God is the truth, exploring the truth leads us closer to God".

The conference seeks to build on Lemaître's legacy, bridging gaps between diverse scientific theories in pursuit of a deeper understanding of the universe.

Sources

Religion News Service

"I know enough to never say no to an opportunity," Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, a planetary astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory, told Vatican News July 29.

"If God opens a door, he's wanting me to rush through it," he said.

"I'm a very timid person in many ways, but I had the chance 25 years ago to go to Antarctica to collect some of these meteorites. It was not easy, but it's an adventure I would never have regretted doing," he recalled.

Read More

"There's few places where you can actually see the stars that brightly that the Milky Way casts a shadow.

And you forget that's the way the universe used to look to everybody before we filled the sky with this worthless, artificial lighting.

"Light pollution is real pollution - it injures human beings and it injures animal life and it creates more problems.

People feel more secure when there's lights but in fact, the bright lights at night blind you to things going on in the corners. If you have a lit alley, that's where all the graffiti artists go, because they want to be able to see what they're doing.

"In a homily, Pope Benedict compared light pollution to human sinfulness. We blind ourselves with our own lights so we cannot see God's light; we blind ourselves to the sky that is so brilliant that it is scary and awe-inspiring because we are afraid of awe, and we just want to be in our own little cocoon. We are afraid to look outside.

"The majority of people have never seen the Milky Way. What I'm discovering teaching online class to high school kids is, people can't even see the Moon. Now I don't care how light polluted it is, you can see the Moon if you know to look for it, but nobody knows where to look for it, nobody knows where the Moon is on a night-to-night basis.

"When you go outside, do you even bother to look up and say, 'is the Moon out?'. 'Is there a pattern to the phases of the Moon?'. It's shocking that something as obvious as that has been lost."

The dark sky movement is one the Vatican Observatory finds "incredibly important", even though, ironically, the observatory is building a new telescope in Arizona because of Rome's light pollution.

Source

stuff.co.nz

He has been visiting New Zealand on a lecture tour been sponsored by Catholic Discovery (formerly the Catholic Enquiry Centre).

Consolmagno made this remark after students at Hamilton's St John College challenged him on how he could remain a devout Christian without compromising his scientific integrity.

Not believing in creationism helps, Consolmagno said. He believes in evolution and finds God in the extra, unexplained areas of life.

He said there's no conflict between science and religion, they are complementary.

Queries about what existed before God and if an asteroid will destroy the world were some of the other queries Consolmagno fielded.

When asked about the existence of aliens he said the bible doesn't mention New Zealand, but here we are, leaving the possibility of extra-terrestrials open.

The final questions left the crowd in the high school library in stitches.

"What's your IQ?"

"I don't know," Consolmagno said. "I've never checked."

Consolmagno is a Jesuit religious brother who is "pushing 68" and was appointed by Pope Francis, who he sees several times a year at group audiences, in 2015.

Born in Michigan, a Catholic from birth with an Irish mum and Italian dad, he is an expert in planetary science with a PhD from Arizona University.

He taught at Harvard College, debated science with the late Professor Stephen Hawking and discovered meteorites in Antarctica.

An asteroid was named in his honour by the International Astronomical Union in 2000.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

Consolmagno S.J., a leading American research astronomer, is also an internationally renowned speaker, Jesuit and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Continue reading

In the pages of the Italian daily La Repubblica, he revealed that he venerates "the God of joy" through science.

The American astronomer spoke about the possibility of "another life than our own in the universe": other places, including in our solar system, have all the ingredients to make life possible as we know it on Earth … we know that they are places where it is worthwhile to send spatial missions . . . It's worthwhile to make an effort to find the proofs. All science begins by this form of ‘faith.'"

As for the possibility to enter into contact with extra-terrestrial intelligences, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to communicate with them.

All things considered, we sometimes find it very difficult to communicate, including with members of our family.

Would you baptize an alien? "Only if it asks me,' answered Brother Consolmagno.

He mentioned the present mistrust vis-s-vis science. "There is great fear of the truth in our days, even the truth of love.

"As children, we learn that all there is to be known we can read in books, but when we mature, we realize that everything that we learn leads to new questions. The more we know, the more we understand that we don't know."

"The error is to think that our objective is to find 'answers.' The real objective is to always have more confidence with these questions. If you think that your wife is ‘a problem to solve,' your marriage is probably in a grave crisis.

"We should think of science and religion as ways of learning to know truths without one ever arriving at an end," he said.

"Science is a wonderful way to experience a sentiment of intimacy with Creation and by it, to become intimate with the Creator," he affirmed again. Continue reading

Sources

• Zenit article by Anne Kurian
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

Consolmagno is in New Zealand to take part in a panel discussion on extraterrestrial life at a festival on Great Barrier Island.

In an interview with Jamie Moreton in the New Zealand Herald Consolmagno said "And the reason that people think they are at odds is because most people stop learning about science when they're 12, and most people stop learning about religion when they're 12."

What does a 12-year-old know about science? he asked.

"It's a big book of facts, and they feel the same about religion; they learned it at Sunday school, so it must be true."

"But when you get beyond all that stuff, you learn that science itself is not about collecting answers; it's about asking the right questions, and getting used to concepts.

"It's the same way I feel about anything that you love."

"Spending time with the universe is a great way of getting to used to creation and the creator."

Consolmagno said that if you love someone, you love the things they make - just ask a mother who puts pictures that their children create on the refrigerator - so if you love God, you're going to love the things God made.

"This is going to make you want to know more and more about how the universe actually functions."

"Deeper than that, there's a sense that understanding science, and especially astronomy, is a great way to pull yourself out of ordinary, day-to-day life - you recognise that the universe is much bigger than your concerns about traffic, your dinner that night, or your job."

Consolmagno does not think the topic of aliens is trivial or a distraction.

"I certainly would think that in 20 years from now, we will have strong evidence of certain planets around other stars that make us think, maybe there's life out there."

"But do I think we are going to get a message from space?"

"Probably not."

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: catholicphilly.com

Brother Consolmagno said while literal readings of the Bible suggested the world was young, the perpetration of that belief, despite the scientific evidence to the contrary, was simply "bad theology".

"It's almost blasphemous theology," he told Fairfax Media during a visit to Brisbane on Wednesday.

"It's certainly not the tradition of Catholicism and never has been and it misunderstands what the Bible is and it misunderstands what science is."

And that was why Brother Consolmagno, a decorated planetary scientist, struggled when asked how he reconciled his faith with his science.

For him, there was nothing to reconcile.

"I grew up with the nuns in my school teaching me science," Brother Consolmagno said.

"Science is a way of getting close to creation, to really getting intimate with creation, and it's a way of getting intimate with the creator.

"It's an act of worship."

Brother Consolmagno, who has returned to his native United States after more than 20 years at the Vatican, said any science book more than three years old was probably at least partially out of date.

So, in that regard, the Bible should not be used as a basis for scientific study.

"Science goes out of date - it's supposed to," Brother Consolmagno said.

"Now, if you're turning the Bible into a science book, then you're saying you should throw it out after three years and you don't want to do that.

"...The very concept of a science book didn't exist when the Bible was written - that's the misunderstanding of theology, of the Bible."

Brother Consolmagno said science, like religion, was not literal.

"The search for literalism, the search for absolute truth, isn't what science is about and it's not what religion is about," he said.

"If you want a sound bite answer [to the reconciliation question], my religion tells me God made the universe and my science tells me how he did it." Continue reading

Source

• Article and image: The Sydney Morning Herald