The “Nones” who claim no religious affiliation because they think science has rendered religion useless—as well as those who know that the science-and-religion conversation is one of the most fascinating encounters on offer today—should have a look at the website of the Society of Catholic Scientists. From a standing start in 2016, the Society has grown to over 1,300 members in 50 countries. As a forum for exchange among scientists, the Society fosters Christian community. As a resource for the Church, the Society offers accessible, credible materials to those charged with transmitting the faith in a culture that often imagines science to be the only font of truth. As an association of leading scientists in their fields, the Society’s very existence demonstrates the compatibility of scientific rigor and religious conviction.
The Society’s website is a treasure trove of fascinating materials, including biographies of prominent scientists who were Catholics, a section on “Common Questions” about science and Catholic faith, and longer articles aimed at a general audience. Every Catholic high school religion or theology teacher in the English-speaking world should be aware of the Society, its website, and its invaluable materials.
Good News After a Very Bad Year
The Society of Catholic Scientists draws attention to, and creates fellowship among, religious people in the scientific community.
Several recent studies have shown that many young people today, including young Catholics, lose their faith because they imagine that there is a conflict between religion and science. One could blame the “New Atheists” and their aggressive in-your-face proselytism for this. But the reason they have had any success, despite the manifest weakness of their arguments, is that they have been pushing on an open door.
In the Catholic context, the problem is that there has been very little catechesis on modern science and its relation to faith at any level of education from grade schools to seminaries – despite the great importance Pope Saint John Paul II placed on the subject.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that many in the Catholic Church have recognized that something was missing, and many promising initiatives have begun. For example, excellent programs have been started in the last few years by Christopher Baglow and John Cavadini to equip Catholic high-school teachers to teach about the relation of science and faith. Cavadini is a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame and head of its Institute for Church Life. Baglow is a theology professor at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans and the author of a fine textbook on science and religion designed to be used in Catholic high schools. (No such textbook had ever been written until he wrote his in 2009.) At least one Catholic seminary now has a course on science and religion. And in 2014, Notre Dame gave its Laetare Medal — the oldest honor awarded for American Catholic leaders — to a Catholic biologist, Kenneth R. Miller, for his writing on the subject.
Catholic scientists themselves are beginning to be more active in this area. Just last summer a group of us started an organization called the Society of Catholic Scientists. It aims, among other things, to “foster fellowship among Catholic scientists” and to “witness to the harmony between the vocation of science and the life of faith.” Despite its high qualifications for membership, the group is growing rapidly, gaining new members nearly every day. Some are among the top scientists in their fields.
Scientists Don’t Have to Choose between Faith and Reason