Habemus Papam! Pope Francis I is one of us!!!! According to his official biography, the new Pope holds a Masters degree in chemistry. He's probably the first trained scientist in the modern sense of the word to become Pope.
And this isn't some bogus 'intelligent design' or 'creation science' degree earned in a basement Bible college, either. His MS was awarded by the University of Buenos Aires, which is basically the MIT of Latin America and one of the top-ranked universities in the world. Yes, the Pope is a science nerd with real cred!
This gives me hope for the future with regard to the religion-science debate. For the first time in modern history a major religious leader has a strong science background, although the Catholic Church learned its lesson from Galileo long ago. Despite what is usually taught to high school seniors and undergraduates, Galileo's major works had all been removed from the Holy Index by 1800--the first time an experiment could be conducted that conclusively proved the movement of the Earth. Galileo himself would have been rehabilitated much earlier were it not for intervening political events that preoccupied previous Popes. Pius XII was close to doing so but didn't want to risk a church split with World War II at hand. Today Galileo's statue stands in the Vatican as a reminder of a painful lesson learned.
Of course, the Jesuits (to which Francis belonged before becoming Pope) have always been big on science and are at least partly responsible for the strong academic foundation that Catholic educational institutions have become legendary for. It was the Jesuit order, in fact, that verified Galileo's claims. Galileo's persecution had more to do with karma coming home to roost (Galileo was very good at making enemies!) than with his specific assertions. It's because of the Jesuit influence that the Catholic Church didn't repeat the mistake it made before with regard to evolution (which for the most part is taught without controversy in Catholic institutions).
I'm not Catholic, so I really don't have a dog in this fight, but Pope Francis is fairly conservative on a lot of issues (homosexuality, birth control) so he's not going to be all things to all people. But his scientific background, combined with his established track record in addressing the needs of the poor I think bodes well for the future. Added (read: much needed) bonus: he's come out in the past very strongly against child abuse and no doubt will kick some priestly ass with regard to the sexual abuse scandals that have come out in recent years. Personally, I think he should restart the Inquisition in full Torquemada mode for that one.
It is not widely known that the Catholic Church has an official obervatory. the Vatican Obwservatory is in Italy and also in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteThe Vatican has been a major science funder for centuries. While the traditional school of thought has been that the Church suppressed scientific knowledge and development, in fact during the High Middle Ages (11th-13th centuries C.E.) it was the #1 driver of scientific innovation in the Western world. It was the wealthiest, most organized, and most efficiently run entity in Europe for centuries, and was directly responsible for the modern university system and most of what we'd now call grant money for research.
ReplyDeleteThat people see it differently today is the result of very poor historiography and a basic misunderstanding of the role of the Church in the medieval period. The misunderstanding is on the level of not understanding why the Pentagon would fund scientific research in the United States today (in fact, the same reasons for doing so apply for both the medieval Catholic Church and the 21st century American military-industrial complex if one digs deep enough).