"Science doesn't want to take God away from people, even if some scientists do," says Marcelo Gleiser, a professor of physics and astronomy.

Rather, science and spirituality represent complementary expressions of humanity's curiosity about the unknown.

"My mission is to bring back to science, and to the people who are interested in science, this attachment to the mysterious, to make people understand that science is just one other way for us to engage with the mystery of who we are," Gleiser says.

Although he does not believe in God, he refuses to write off the possibility of a creator of the universe completely. Atheism and science don't go together, he says.

"You may not believe in God, but to affirm its nonexistence with certainty is not scientifically consistent."

He regards science as a spiritual quest to understand the origins of existence and life on Earth.

Evan Thompson, who is the professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia, commended Gleiser for "bringing together people from different cultures and religious backgrounds into a global conversation on the importance of going beyond old stereotypes to celebrate the human condition and our role as planetary custodians."

Brazilian-born Gleiser, director of Dartmouth's Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement, has made space for science and the humanities to work together on questions of meaning and spirituality.

He has also participated in scientific dialogue with Catholic clergy though, as an agnostic, he opposes biblical literalism. Nor does he see a place for religious texts to "explain or predict and describe natural phenomena in scientific ways".

Pew Research has found the faithful often see science and religion going hand-in-hand, with regular churchgoers less likely to see the two spheres of life in conflict (50%) than those who attend seldom or never (73%).

Other Templeton Prize winners have included representatives of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. St Teresa of Kolkata was awarded the prize in 1973.

Source

• Christianity Today
• Daily Mail
• Crux
• Image: NPR

L'Arche is a global network of communities where those with and without developmental disabilities live side by side.

The network was begun in northern France in 1964 when Mr Vanier invited two intellectually disabled men to live with him as friends.

It has evolved into 147 L'Arche communities, in 35 countries.

A support group for families of people with disabilities, known as Faith and Light, has spread to 82 countries.

The Templeton Prize honours those who have made "exceptional contributions" to affirming the spiritual dimension of life.

Previous winners include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Dalai Lama and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Mr Vanier, who is a Catholic layman, said he will donate the prize money to his charities so they can expand their work internationally.

According to a Religion News Service report, Mr Vanier, 86, said that those with intellectual disabilities offer spiritual lessons and gifts to a world too driven by success and power.

"They are essentially people of the heart," he said.

"When they meet others they do not have a hidden agenda for power or for success. Their cry, their fundamental cry, is for a relationship, a meeting heart to heart.

"It is this meeting that awakens them, opens them up to life, and calls them forth to love in great simplicity, freedom and openness.

"When those ingrained in a culture of winning and of individual success really meet them, and enter into friendship with them, something amazing and wonderful happens.

"They too are opened up to love and even to God. They are changed at a very deep level. They are transformed and become more fundamentally human."

Mr Vanier has written 30 books on religion, normality, success and tolerance.

The Templeton Foundation, which awards the annual prize, was launched by the late Anglo-American financier and philanthropist, Sir John Templeton.

Sources

• Religion News Service
• The Independent
• Image: Catholic Ireland

On May 14, the Czech philosopher priest was presented with the award, which honours a living person who has made exceptional contributions "to affirming life's spiritual dimension".

The prize is worth about NZ$2 million.

As he was presented with the award, Fr Halík said: "Tolerance is the secular translation of the Gospel injunction to love one's enemies."

"But when religious concepts are translated into secular language and concepts, something is usually lost.

"In order to tolerate an unpleasant neighbour I really don't need to love him in any sense.

"It is enough for me to ignore him, since I don't care about him," he said.

This mentality has led to the forming of ghettos and a culture in which different ethnic groups do not mix, he added.

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