However, to do so, "it is necessary to encounter God first as Father, as Abba, otherwise God cannot be encountered with science."

In other words, "faith must be there first, if one wishes to see God in Creation."

Talking with ZENIT, astronomer Guy Consolmagno explained this on the sidelines of the meeting held yesterday, May 8, 2017, in the Holy See Press Office, where the Scientific Workshop on black holes, gravitational waves and the peculiarity of space-time, which will be held in the Vatican Astronomical Observatory in Castel Gandolfo from May 9-12, was presented.

American astronomer Guy Consolmagno, who already had a brilliant scientific curriculum, entered the Society of Jesus in 1989 and took his vows in 1991.

In 2015, he was appointed Director of the Specola Vaticana— the Astronomical Observatory of the Vatican.

In 2000, the International Astronomic Union named an asteroid of the principal belt after him - 4597 Consolmagno, known also as "Little Guy."

Questioned about God and referring to how Saint Thomas had said that the universe is not a reflection of God, the scientist pointed out: "God is the evidence of the existence of the universe. Because if one doesn't believe in a God, one could think that the universe doesn't exist, that it is altogether an imagination."

"If one doesn't believe in a God as in the God of Christianity, one cannot believe in the universe, which works with laws and with a system," otherwise "it would be a universe of chaos, of the nature gods, like Jove or Jupiter," he added, explaining that "this isn't our idea of God. The idea is of a supernatural God who gives space for the laws of science."

"We also believe in a good God who created the universe by His Will and not by an accident or by chance" - in a God "who said that the universe is good, and who said ‘This is good,'" he continued. Continue reading

Sources

• Zenit interview by Sergio Mora
• Image: Vatican Observatory

Consolmagno is a Jesuit brother and president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.

He'll discuss the interface between science and humanity, our place in the universe and what it means to us if life is found out there.

The one-day festival, called Is There Life Out There?, follows a similar event last year organised by the island-based Awana Rural Women group, which attracted around 12 per cent of the island's residents.

Other speakers include, top US planetary scientist Dr Faith Vilas, and Gino Acevedo, the Weta Digital creative art director behind such films as Avatar and King Kong.

Also on the bill is Auckland University of Technology microbiologist Professor Steve Pointing, who worked with Nasa researching extreme lifeforms that survive in polar cold and desert heat.

The group's president, Gendie Somerville-Ryan, chuckled when asked how these heavyweights had been pulled to such a remote spot.

"Well, it's just never good luck is it?"

The group was fortunate to have among its members Dr Ann Sprague, a retired University of Arizona planetary scientist who had connections with Vilas and Consolmagno.

"So we did have an in there, but then it's not just about having a contact - it's that these people have to actually be willing to come, and they're even paying," Somerville-Ryan said.

"Partly I think it was the attraction of people being able to come to a small isolated community, where we are desperate for knowledge, basically."

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: sciencemag.org

Raised in Detroit, Michigan, he studied Earth and Planetary Sciences at MIT for his bachelor's and master's degrees and at the University of Arizona for his doctorate.

During a break in his studies he spent two years teaching astronomy in Nairobi for the Peace Corps. Having attended a Jesuit high school, Consolmagno contemplated joining the church at several points in his career before joining the order in 1989.

Two years later, he was called to serve at the Vatican Observatory where he has been ever since. Consolmagno's research has always focused on the smallest bodies in our solar system and his work at the Vatican has allowed him to make significant contributions to this field over the past several decades.

In 2014, he was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal by the American Astronomical Society for outstanding communication of planetary science to the public.

You can keep up with Consolmagno's thoughts on work and life at the Vatican Observatory by reading his blog, following him on Twitter, and watching his TEDx talk.

I recently chatted with Brother Guy about his life in science and the church and what he's learned from moving between the two.

How did you get interested in science? Where it something that was always there?

I'm a Baby Boomer kid. I was in kindergarten when Sputnik went up and I was a senior in high school when we landed on the Moon. We just grew up with all that. You have to have been there to know how intense the whole focus on science and school kids was. Added to that, I had a lot of support from my parents, especially, my dad.

I had been very close with my dad all of my life. I'm the youngest of three and he's 98 and going strong. He was an early adapter in computers, so we chat over Skype or Facetime all the time. Continue reading

Sources

• Smithsonian Magazine, article by Summer Ash, Director of Outreach for Columbia University's Department of Astronomy.
• Image: Vatican Observatory Foundation

Many well-known astronomers and astrophysicists think so, including Stephen Hawking, who in a recent interview said, "Before we understood science, it was natural to believe that God created the universe, but now science offers a more convincing explanation... I'm an atheist."

Other astronomers see no fundamental incompatibility between science and religious faith-including Guy Consolmagno, an astronomer and planetary scientist who is one of a dozen astronomers who works for the Vatican Observatory.

In an interview with HuffPost Science editor David Freeman, Brother Guy said he believes the antagonism between scientific principles and religious faith exists mostly among fundamentalists.

"I mean fundamentalists on both sides," he said, "because there are also science fundamentalists.

"And what is a fundamentalist? It's somebody who is clinging to the fundamentals of their truth because they don't have the confidence or the faith in their faith to be able to say, 'I'm settled, I'm happy with this, let's see where it goes.'

"Fundamentalism is a sign of fear."

To hear the full interview with Brother Guy-who is also the curator of the Vatican Observatory's meteorite collection and the author of a new book entitled Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial-click on the podcast link.

The interview was originally broadcast on Sharon, Connecticut radio stationWHDD/Robin Hood Radio.

Sources

• Huffington Post
• Image: Inside Higher Ed