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The Pontifical Academy of Sciences:A Historical ProfileMarcelo Sánchez SorondoBishop Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciencesand of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences:A Historical Profile

Extra Series 38 • Vatican City 2012

01. The Nature and Goals of the Academy

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has its origins in theAccademia dei Lincei (‘the Academy of Lynxes’) which wasestablished in Rome in 1603, under the patronage of PopeClement VIII, by the learned Roman Prince Federico Cesi. Theleader of this Academy was the famous scientist, GalileoGalilei. It was dissolved after the death of its founder but thenrecreated by Pope Pius IX in 1847 and given the name‘Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei’ (‘the PontificalAcademy of the New Lynxes’). Pope Pius XI then refoundedthe Academy in 1936 and gave it its present name,bestowing upon it statutes which were subsequently updatedby Paul VI in 1976 and by John Paul II in 1986. Since 1936the Pontifical Academy of Sciences has been concerned bothwith investigating specific scientific subjects belonging toindividual disciplines and with the promotion ofinterdisciplinary cooperation. It has progressively increasedthe number of its Academicians and the international scopeof its membership.

The Academy is an independent body within the Holy See andenjoys freedom of research. Although its rebirth was theresult of an initiative promoted by the Roman Pontiff and it isunder the direct protection of the ruling Pope, it organises itsown activities autonomously in line with the goals set out inits statutes: The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has as itsgoal the promotion of the progress of the mathematical,physical and natural sciences, and the study of relatedepistemological questions and issues.1

Its deliberations and the studies it engages in, like itsmembership, are not influenced by factors of a national,political or religious character. For this reason, the Academyis a valuable source of objective scientific information whichis made available to the Holy See and to the internationalscientific community. Today, the work of the Academy coverssix main areas: a) fundamental science; b) the science andtechnology of global questions and issues; c) science infavour of the problems of the Third World; d) the ethics andpolitics of science; e) bioethics; and f) epistemology. Thedisciplines involved are sub-divided into nine fields: the

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Marcelo Sánchez SorondoBishop Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciencesand of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences:A Historical Profile

disciplines of physics and related disciplines; astronomy;chemistry; the earth and environment sciences; the lifesciences (botany, agronomy, zoology, genetics, molecularbiology, biochemistry, the neurosciences, surgery);mathematics; the applied sciences; and the philosophy andhistory of sciences. The new members of the Academy areelected by the body of Academicians and are chosen from menand women of every race and religion on the basis of the highscientific value of their activities and their high moral profile.They are then officially appointed by the Roman Pontiff. TheAcademy is governed by a President, appointed from itsmembers by the Pope, who is helped by a scientific Counciland by the Chancellor. Initially made up of eightyAcademicians, of whom seventy were appointed for life, in1986 John Paul II raised the number of life members to eighty,side by side with a limited number of Honorary Academicianschosen because they are highly qualified figures, and otherswho are Academicians because of the posts they hold,amongst whom: theChancellor of the Academy,the Director of the Vatican

Observatory, the Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library, andthe Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archive. In conformity with thegoals set out in its statutes, the Pontifical Academy of Sciencesa) holds plenary sessions; b) organises meetings directedtowards the progress of science and the solution oftechnical-scientific problems which are thought to beespecially important for the development of the peoples ofthe world; c) promotes scientific inquiries and researchwhich can contribute, in the relevant places andorganisations, to the investigation of moral, social andspiritual questions; d) organises conferences andcelebrations; e) is responsible for the publication of thedeliberations of its own meetings, of the results of thescientific research and the studies of Academicians andother scientists.2 To this end, traditional ‘study weeks’ areorganised and specific ‘working groups’ are established. Theheadquarters of the Academy is the Casina Pio IV, a smallvilla built by the famous architect Pirro Ligorio in 1561 as the

summer residence of PopePaul IV. Surrounded by thelawns, shrubbery and treesof the Vatican Gardens,frescoes, stuccoes, mosaics,and fountains from thesixteenth century can beadmired within its precincts.Every two years the Academyawards its ‘Pius XI Medal’, aprize which was establishedin 1961 by John XXIII. Thismedal is given to young

6 THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: A HISTORICAL PROFILE

scientists who have distinguished themselves at theinternational level because of their scientific achievements.The publications of the Academy include three series: ScriptaVaria, Documenta, and Commentarii. The most importantworks, such as for example the papers produced by the studyweeks and the conferences, are published in the ScriptaVaria. In a smaller format, the Documenta series publishesshort texts produced by various activities, as well asspeeches by the Popes or declarations of the Academicianson subjects of special contemporary relevance. TheCommentarii series contains articles, observations andcomments of a largely monographic character on specificscientific subjects. The expenses incurred by the activities ofthe Academy are met by the Holy See.During its various decades of activity, the Academy has had anumber of Nobel Prize winners amongst its members, manyof whom were appointed Academicians before they receivedthis prestigious international award. Amongst these are: LordErnest Rutherford (Nobel Prize for Physics, 1908), GuglielmoMarconi (Physics, 1909), Alexis Carrel (Physiology, 1912),Max von Laue (Physics, 1914), Max Planck (Physics, 1918),Niels Bohr (Physics, 1922), Werner Heisenberg (Physics,1932), Paul Dirac (Physics, 1933), Erwin Schroedinger(Physics, 1933), Sir Alexander Fleming (Physiology, 1945),Chen Ning Yang (Physics, 1957), Rudolf L. Mössbauer(Physics, 1961), Max F. Perutz (Chemistry, 1962), John Eccles(Physiology, 1963), Charles H.Townes (Physics, 1964),Manfred Eigen and George Porter (Chemistry, 1967), HarGobind Khorana and Marshall W. Nirenberg (Physiology,1968). Recent Nobel Prize winners who have also been or arepresently Academicians are: Christian de Duve (Physiology,

1974), Werner Arber and George E. Palade (Physiology,1974), David Baltimore (Physiology, 1975), Aage Bohr(Physics, 1975), Abdus Salam (Physics, 1979), Paul Berg(Chemistry, 1980), Kai Siegbahn (Physics, 1981), SuneBergström (Physiology, 1982), Carlo Rubbia (Physics, 1984),Rita Levi-Montalcini (Physiology, 1986), John C. Polanyi(Chemistry, 1986), Jean-Marie Lehn (Chemistry, 1987),Joseph E. Murray (Physiology, 1990), Gary S. Becker(Economics, 1992), Paul J. Crutzen (Chemistry, 1995),Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (Physics, 1997) and Ahmed H.Zewail (Chemistry, 1999). Padre Agostino Gemelli(1878-1959), the founder of the Catholic University of theSacred Heart and President of the Academy after itsrefoundation until 1959, and Msgr. Georges Lemaître (1894-1966), one of the fathers of contemporary cosmology whoheld the office of President from 1960 to 1966, were eminent

7THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: A HISTORICAL PROFILE

Academicians of the past. Under the Presidency of theBrazilian biophysicist Carlos Chagas and of his successorGiovanni Battista Marini-Bettòlo, the Academy linked itsscientific activity to the promotion of peace and the progressof the peoples of the world, and dedicated increasingattention to the scientific and health care problems of theThird World. The current President of the Academy is SwissNobel laureate Werner Arber. The goals and hopes of theAcademy, within the context of the dialogue between scienceand faith, were expressed by Pius XI (1922-1939) in thefollowing way in the Motu Proprio which brought about itsrefoundation: Amongst the many consolations with whichdivine Goodness has wished to make happy the years of ourPontificate, I am happy to place that of our having being ableto see not a few of those who dedicate themselves to thestudies of the sciences mature their attitude and theirintellectual approach towards religion. Science, when it isreal cognition, is never in contrast with the truth of theChristian faith. Indeed, as is well known to those who studythe history of science, it must be recognised on the one handthat the Roman Pontiffs and the Catholic Church havealways fostered the research of the learned in theexperimental field as well, and on the other hand that suchresearch has opened up the way to the defence of thedeposit of supernatural truths entrusted to the Church ... Wepromise again, and it is our strongly-held intention, that the‘Pontifical Academicians’, through their work and ourInstitution, work ever more and ever more effectively for theprogress of the sciences. Of them we do not ask anythingelse, since in this praiseworthy intent and this noble work isthat service in favour of the truth that we expect of them.3


After more than forty years, John Paul II once againemphasised the role and the goals of the Academy at thetime of his first speech to the Academicians which he gave on10 November 1979 to commemorate the centenary of thebirth of Albert Einstein: the existence of this PontificalAcademy of Sciences, of which in its ancient ancestry Galileowas a member and of which today eminent scientists aremembers, without any form of ethnic or religiousdiscrimination, is a visible sign, raised amongst the peoplesof the world, of the profound harmony that can exist betweenthe truths of science and the truths of faith ... The Church ofRome together with all the Churches spread throughout theworld, attributes a great importance to the function of thePontifical Academy of Sciences. The title of ‘Pontifical’ givento the Academy means, as you know, the interest and thecommitment of the Church, in different forms from theancient patronage, but no less profound and effective incharacter. As the lamented and distinguished President ofthe Academy, Monsignor Lemaître, observed: Does theChurch need science? But for the Christian nothing that ishuman is foreign to him. How could the Church have lackedinterest in the most noble of the occupations which are moststrictly human – the search for truth? ... Both believingscientists and non-believing scientists are involved indeciphering the palimpsest of nature which has been built ina rather complex way, where the traces of the differentstages of the long evolution of the world have been coveredover and mixed up. The believer, perhaps, has the advantageof knowing that the puzzle has a solution, that the underlyingwriting is in the final analysis the work of an intelligent being,and that thus the problem posed by nature has been posed

to be solved and that its difficulty is without doubtproportionate to the present or future capacity of humanity.This, perhaps, will not give him new resources for theinvestigation engaged in. But it will contribute tomaintaining him in that healthy optimism without which asustained effort cannot be engaged in for long.4

It was precisely in that speech that John Paul II formally calledon historians, theologians and scientists to examine theGalileo case again in detail. And he asked them to do this inthe faithful recognition of errors, by whomsoever committed,in order to remove the distrust that this case still generates,in the minds of many people, placing obstacles thereby inthe way of fruitful concord between science and faith.5


02. A Historical Survey: From the Accademia deiLincei to Today’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences

The historical itinerary of the Academy is summarised in thearticles written by Marini-Bettòlo (1986) and by Marchesi(1988), and in broader fashion in the monograph by RégisLadous (1994). As was observed at the beginning, the rootsof the Pontifical Academy of Sciences are to be traced backto the post-Renaissance period. Its origins go back to theancient Accademia dei Lincei, established in 1603 by PrinceFederico Cesi (1585-1630) when he was just eighteen yearsold. Cesi was a botanist and naturalist, the son of the Duke ofAcquasparta, and the member of a noble Roman family.Three other young men took part in this initiative: GiovanniHeck, a Dutch physician aged twenty-seven; FrancescoStelluti di Fabriano; and Anastasio de Filiis de Terni. The firstAcademy dedicated to the sciences thus came into being,and took its place at the side of the other Academies – ofliterature, history, philosophy and art – which had arisen inthe humanistic climate of the Renaissance. The example ofCesi and of his group of scholars was followed some yearslater in other countries – the Royal Society was created inLondon in 1662 and the Académie des sciences wasestablished in France in 1666. Although he looked back tothe model of the Aristotelian-Platonic Academy, his aim wasaltogether special and innovative. Cesi and his Academicianswanted to create a method of research based uponobservation, experiment, and the inductive method. He thuscalled this Academy ‘dei Lincei’ because the scientists whichadhered to it had to have eyes as sharp as lynxes in order topenetrate the secrets of nature, observing it at both

microscopic and macroscopic levels. Seeking to observe theuniverse in all its dimensions, the ‘Lincei’ made use of themicroscope (perspicillus-occhialino) and the telescope(tubulus opticus) in their scientific research, and extendedthe horizon of knowledge from the extremely small to theextremely large. Federico bestowed his own motto on the‘Lincei’ – ‘minima cura si maxima vis’ (‘take care of smallthings if you want to obtain the greatest results’).The Cesi group was also interested in the new scientific andnaturalistic discoveries then coming from the New World, asis demonstrated by the most significant works of the collegeof the first ‘Lincei’ – the Rerum medicarum thesaurus novaeHispaniae, later known as the Tesoro Messicano, which wasprinted in Rome in 1628. This was a very extensive collectionof new geographical and naturalistic knowledge, withadditional accounts of explorations carried out in theAmericas. From the outset the Academy had its ups anddowns. A few years after its foundation it was stronglyobstructed by Cesi’s father because he believed that some of


its activity was not very transparent – for example, studies inalchemy. But after the death of Federico’s father, theabundant economic resources obtained thanks to Federico’sinheritance, as well as the fact that renowned scholars suchas Galileo Galilei, Giovan Battista della Porta, Fabio Colonna,and Cassiano dal Pozzo had joined its ranks, enabled theAcademy to progress and advance. The religious nature of theAcademy cannot be overlooked. It was placed under theprotection of St. John the Evangelist who was often portrayedin the miniatures of its publications with an eagle and a lynx,both of which were symbols of sight and reason. It wastherefore conceived as an assembly of scholars whose goal –as one can read in its Rules, described as the ‘Linceografo’ –was knowledge and wisdom of things to be obtained not onlythrough living together with honesty and piety, but with thefurther goal of communicating them peacefully to menwithout causing any harm. Nature was seen not only as asubject of study but also of contemplation. Amongst the

suggestions of the ‘Linceografo’ there is also that ofpreceding study and work with prayer for this reason theLynxes, near to doing anything at all, must first raise theirminds to God, and humbly pray to him and invoke theintercession of the saints.6 The practices of spiritual piety ofthe members also included the reciting of the liturgical officeof the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Davidic Psalter. For thisreason, as Enrico di Rovasenda observes, the religiousinspiration of the Lincei cannot be overlooked, as is done inmany quarters, nor can it be reduced to an ‘almost mysticalglow of the school of Pythagoras’, as has also been suggested.The high moral figure of Cesi acts to guarantee the sincere andloyal profession of its religious faith.7One of the mottoes of theAcademy – Sapientiae cupidi – indicated the striving forconstant research into truth through scientific speculation,based upon the mathematical and natural sciences but alwayslocated within a sapiential horizon. Like Galileo, whose greatsupporter he was, Cesi admired Aristotle but not theAristotelians of the University of Padua who had refused tolook at things through the Pisan scientist’s telescope. He wasalso rather critical of the university culture of his day. Inaddition, Federico Cesi acted as a mediator between theRoman theological world and Galileo, up to the point ofadvising the latter not to insist in his polemics about theinterpretation of Holy Scripture so that he could devotehimself more effectively to scientific research. Death struckCesi down in 1630 when Galileo was about to finish hisDialogo sui Massimi Sistemi, the manuscript of which hewanted to send to Cesi himself so that the latter couldorganise its publication. After Cesi’s death the activities of theAcademy diminished to such an extent as to bring about its


new practical initiatives to refound the Academy during thefirst half of the nineteenth century in response to the wishesof Pope Pius VII (1800-1823) and Leo XII (1823-1829), withthe allocation of the second floor of Palazzo Senatorio inCampidoglio to the Academy as its headquarters. But in1847 it was Pius IX who officially renewed the Academy withthe name (which had already been suggested by Gregory XVIin 1838) of ‘Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei’ (‘thePontifical Academy of the New Lynxes’), drawing up the newstatutes which envisaged, amongst other things, thepresence of thirty resident members and fortycorrespondent members. During this period ofactivity famous astronomers and priests,such as Francesco de Vico andAngelo Secchi, were presentwithin its ranks. During therevolutionaryupheavals of


closure. The first attempts to bring the ‘Lincei’ back intoexistence took place in 1745 in Rimini as a result of theefforts of a group of scientists belonging to the circle madeup of Giovanni Paolo Simone Bianchi (known as JanusPlancus), Stefano Galli and Giuseppe Garampi. But the new

Academy had a very short life. The attempt atrefoundation made by Padre Feliciano Scarpellini(1762-1840) in Rome at the beginning of the

nineteenth century met with greatersuccess. He gave the name of ‘Lincei’ to aprivate academy that he had established in1795. Despite a lack of funds and a wholeseries of difficulties, Scarpellini managed tokeep the name of ‘Lincei’ alive and to bringtogether in a single academic body thevarious scientists working in the PapalStates, such as the mathematicianDomenico Chelini, the naturalist CarloBonaparte, the anatomist Alessandro

Flajani, the chemists Domenico Morichini andPietro Peretti, Prince Baldassarre Odescalchi, the

physicists Gioacchino Pessutiand Paolo Volpicelli, and the

physician Benedetto Viale.8

The authorities of thePapal States took

1848 the Roman Republic sought to expel the Academy fromthe Campidoglio. However, the institution managed to keepits headquarters by using various bureaucratic manoeuvres.In 1870, following the fall of the independent Papal Statesand the unification of the Kingdom of Italy, the Academydivided into two different institutions: the ‘Reale Accademiadei Lincei’, which later became the present AccademiaNazionale dei Lincei with its headquarters in Palazzo Corsinialla Lungara, and the ‘Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei’,which was transferred from the Campidoglio to the Casina PioIV villa in the Vatican Gardens. A further renewal of theinstitution took place on 28 October 1936 in response to theinsistent requests of the Jesuit Giuseppe Gianfranceschi. Thisscientist was Professor of Physics at the Gregorian Universityand had been the President of the Accademia Pontificia dei

Nuovi Lincei since 1921. A new Pontifical Academy ofSciences was thus created by Pope XI by the Motu Proprio InMultis Solaciis.9 The Presidency was entrusted to the Rectorof the Catholic University, Padre Agostino Gemelli, who wasflanked by the Chancellor, Pietro Salviucci, and by a Councilcomposed of four Academicians. Annual (and later twice-yearly) plenary sessions were proposed for all theAcademicians. The accounts of the activities and thecontributions of the members were published in the ActaPontificiae Academiae Scientiarum and later on in theCommentationes. The first assembly was inaugurated on 1June 1937 by the then Cardinal Secretary of State, EugenioPacelli, the future Pope Pius XII. In discussing this period ofthe Academy reference should be made to the presence ofsuch distinguished members as Ugo Armaldi, GiuseppeArmellini, Niels Bohr, Lucien Cuenot, Georges Lemaître, TullioLevi-Civita, Guglielmo Marconi, Robert Millikan, UmbertoNobile, Max Planck, Ernest Rutherford, Erwin Shrödinger,Francesco Severi, Edmund Whittaker, and Pieter Zeeman.During the years 1937-1946 the publications of the Academyhad a largely Italian character, presenting, for example, thework of the Italian Academicians Pistolesi, Crocco, andNobile on aerodynamics. But there were also papers byforeign Academicians such those as by E. Schrödinger in1937 on quantum physics and by M. Tibor in 1937-1939 onastronomy. During the Second World War the Academygreatly reduced its activity but nonetheless found time for thepublications of Jewish Italian scientists who had beenmarginalised by the race laws of 1938, amongst whomshould be mentioned a group of mathematicians of Jewishdescent including Tullio Levi-Civita and Vito Volterra, and


others such as Giuseppe Levi, Rita Levi-Montalcini, E. Foàand G.S. Coen. Pius XII (1939-1958), who succeeded Pius X,did not fail to make addresses to the Academicians, evenduring the war years, such as the address of 30 November1941 on the occasion of the inauguration of the fourthacademic year. This address was dedicated to a long andprofound reflection on the position of man in relation to theCreation and God.10

In the post-war period, at a time of sensitive reconstructionand the rebuilding of international relations, in the face of thegreat difficulties encountered at the level of scientificcontacts and exchange, the Academy undertook thepublication of the research results of greatest interest in thevarious fields of science which had been achieved during thewar in its work Relationes de Auctis Scientiis tempore belli(1939-1945). This publication was of marked importance infostering the renewal of scientific contacts between thenations which had previously been at war. In 1946 AlexanderFleming (1881-1955) was appointed an Academician inrecognition of his discovery of penicillin – a discovery whichpaved the way to the pharmacological production ofantibiotics. During the 1950s, in parallel with the problems ofreconstruction and development of underdeveloped regions,the activity of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences centredaround the questions and issues of applied science. A studyweek on trace elements was held in 1955, when the problemof agrarian production and food sources was addressed forthe first time. Padre Gemelli died in 1959, after the electionto the papacy of John XXIII (1958). The Presidency of theAcademy was then held by G. Lemaître. The 1960s witnessedan exponential growth and development of science

connected with electronics and the conquest of space. Thisgave new impetus to industry and technological advance butalso to nuclear armaments. In astrophysics the discovery ofnew sensors and the development of radio-astronomyopened up the universe to new interpretations. Biologybecame directed towards the molecular study of genetics. In1961 the Pontifical Academy of Sciences organised a studyweek on the macromolecules of interest to biology, and inparticular on nucleoproteins, a subject which was then ofmajor importance for international research. On thatoccasion, when meeting the Academicians, John XXIIIreaffirmed the educational and cultural mission of the Churchand the function of scientific progress in relation to thepositive appreciation of the human person. The Pope recalled


in addition that science is directed above all else towards thedevelopment and growth of the personality of man and theglorification of God the Creator: indeed, far from fearing themost audacious discoveries of men, the Church insteadbelieves that every advance in the possession of the truthinvolves a development of the human person andconstitutes a road towards the first truth, and theglorification of the creative work of God.11

In 1962, at the time of the plenary session of that year, astudy week dedicated to astronomy which addressed thesubject of cosmic radiation in space was held, guided by thePresident of the Academy, Monsignor Lemaître, himself.In 1964, at the time of the pontificate of Paul VI(1963-1978), there appeared amongst the publications ofthe Pontifical Academy of Sciences the MiscellaneaGalileiana of Monsignor Pio Paschini, who was Professor of

History at the Lateran University. The Galileo case was slowlyreopened, a development favoured by the reference made toit by the Second Vatican Council in n. 36 of Gaudium et Spes.This led to John Paul II’s 1979 address to which reference hasalready been made. In 1966, after the death of GeorgesLemaître, Padre Daniel O’Connell was made President of theAcademy. A Jesuit and Irish astronomer, he had previouslybeen Director of the Vatican Observatory and had been anAcademician for life since 1964. Together with otherastronomers he was also the author of an important generalatlas of the stars. The year 1967 was marked by thepublication of the encyclical Popularum Progressio, in whichPaul VI brought to worldwide attention all the major problemsinherent in the development of the Third World. Thisdocument also contained an appeal to engage ininternational scientific cooperation so that this could in allforms favour developing countries. It introduced the idea thatscientific progress and advance must be guided by a ‘newhumanism’: every advance of ours, each one of our synthesesreveals something about the design which presides over theuniversal order of beings, the effort of man and humanity toprogress. We are searching for a new humanism, which willallow modern man to refind himself, taking on the highervalues of love, friendship, prayer and contemplation.12

In harmony with the themes of the encyclical, the Academythought it was necessary to open itself to collaboration withthe scientists of the Third World and by 1968 it was alreadyholding a study week on the subject of ‘organic matter andsoil fertility’, a subject which dealt with the applications ofscience to agricultural production and the solution of worldhunger. In 1972 a secular President was elected for the first


time – the Brazilian Carlos Chagas, who had already been amember of the United Nations and the General Secretary ofthe first conference of the United Nations on Science andTechnologies for Development. The new President imparteda new direction to the activities of the Academy which werenow more centred around solving the great problems ofpost-industrial society.13 The scientific activity of theAcademy was thus directed not only towards the subjects ofscience which were more specific to Western culture but alsobegan to be concerned, with the cooperation of GiovanniBattista Marini-Bettòlo (who succeeded Chagas in 1988),with the scientific and health care problems connected tothe growth and development of the Third World(‘development ethics’). The 1980s witnessed some newdirections in scientific research which moved towards the lifesciences, earth sciences, and ecology. Mankind had to faceup to new problems, such as pollution, changes in thebiosphere, energy reserves, and genetic manipulation. In1982 the Academy committed itself at an international levelto the promotion of peace with the drawing up of a documenton nuclear weapons14 and devoted the 1983 plenary sessionto the subject of ‘science for peace’. In connection with thatevent, John Paul II appealed to governments to workeffectively in order to remove the danger of a new war andinvited States to engage in nuclear disarmament.15 Thisdocument and appeal resounded strongly in the UnitedStates of America and the Soviet Union. The meetings andstudy weeks of the 1990s were dedicated to analysing thequestion of prolonging life; determining the moment ofdeath; the question of transplants and xenografts; andsustainable growth and development. The issues of in vitro

fertilisation, cloning, and genetic manipulation were alsoconsidered. These subjects increasingly involved issues ofan ethical character (bioethics) and drew scientists,philosophers and theologians into dialogue. Although theusual practice of involving various disciplines wasmaintained, the research and the debates of theAcademicians were especially directed towards reflection onthe anthropological and humanistic dimensions of science.In November 1999 a working group was held on the subjectof ‘science for man and man for science’, and the Jubileesession of November 2000 was dedicated to ‘science andthe future of mankind’.


03. The Role of the Academy in the Dialoguebetween Scientific Thought and Christian Faith

In the relations which exist between Academies and the Statesin which they carry out their activities, the case of the PontificalAcademy of Sciences can be seen as a singular one, as indeedthe role of the small State which hosts it is also singular. Duringthe years this relationship has become very fertile and theChurch has paid careful attention to the Academy. She hasrespected its work and fostered the autonomy of its scientificand organisational dynamics. Through the Academy, theMagisterium of the Church has sought to make the scientificworld understand her teaching and her orientations inrelation to subjects which concern the good of manand society, the complete human development of allthe peoples of the world, and the scientific andcultural co-operation which should animate therelations between States. On the occasion ofnumerous addresses and messagesdirected towards the Academy by sixpontiffs, the Church hasbeen able to


repropose the meaning of the relationship between faith andreason, between science and wisdom, and between love fortruth and the search for God. But through the Academy theChurch has also been able to understand firsthand, quicklyand in depth, the contents and the importance of numerousquestions and issues which have been the object of thereflection of the scientific world, whose consequences forsociety, the environment and the lives of individuals could notbut interest her directly, given that there is nothing which isgenuinely human which does not find echo in her heart.16

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has thus become one ofthe favoured forums for the dialogue between the Gospel andscientific culture, gathering together all the stimulatingprovocations but also the inspiring possibilities that suchdialogue brings with it, almost thereby symbolising a sharedgrowth – of both the scientific community and theMagisterium of the Church – of their respectiveresponsibilities towards truth and good. The above survey, although general in nature, dealing withthe activity carried out over the sixty years since thefoundation of the Pontifical Academy of Science, thesubjects of the numerous meetings and study weeks, andthe publications which the Academy has produced, bringsout all the contemporary relevance and the importance ofthe subjects which have been addressed. Scientists from allover the world, often co-operating closely with a group ofphilosophers and theologians, have examined questionsand issues ranging from genetics to cosmology, fromagriculture to the distribution of resources, from the surgeryof transplants to the history of science, and from ecology totelecommunications. The speeches addressed by the

Pontiffs to the Academicians, from Pius XI to Benedict XVI,have offered important elements of reflection not only inrelation to the ethical and moral responsibility of theiractivities but also on the very meaning of scientific research,and on its striving for truth and an increasingly profoundknowledge of reality. The relationship between science andfaith, both at an epistemological and an anthropologicallevel, has been the usual framework of almost all thesepapal addresses. The forms of language employed havebeen different as these decades have passed, and differentemphases have been placed on the various questions andissues, but the attention paid to scientific work has beenunchanging, as has been the case in relation to thephilosophical and cultural aspects which that work involves.Side by side with such dialogue, which we could call‘ordinary’, international public opinion has witnessed certain‘out of the ordinary’ events. From the media it has learnt


about speeches of special importance for the relationshipbetween science and faith, speeches given at the Academyin particular during the pontificates of John Paul II andBenedict XVI. Special reference should be made to theaddress with which, as has already been observed,17 JohnPaul II spoke to the plenary session of the PontificalAcademy of Sciences in November 1979 to express his wishfor, and then formally request, the establishment of acommittee of historians, scientists, and theologians to re-examine the Galileo case and present public opinion with aserene analysis of the facts as they occurred. The aim of thiswas not in a historical sense to recognise the inadvisabilityof the condemnation of the heliocentrism carried out fourcenturies beforehand by the Sant’Uffizio (something which

had already been effected in 1757 with the removal of theworks in question from the list of prohibited books), butrather to ensure that the historical-philosophical context ofthe episode, as well as its implications at a cultural level,were more evident, thereby clarifying in a public way whichwould be comprehensible to everybody what had alreadybeen made clear in a narrower circle of intellectuals andexperts. During a new assembly of the Academy which washeld on 31 October 1992, Cardinal Paul Poupard, in thepresence of the Holy Father, presented the results of thecommittee and commented on the work carried out.Four years later, on 22 October 1996, this time in the form ofa message on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of itsrefoundation, John Paul II once again chose the PontificalAcademy of Sciences as a qualified interlocutor to expoundcertain important reflections on the theory of evolution.Returning to and developing certain observations made byhis predecessor Pius XII in the encyclical Humani Generis,18

he now added that new knowledge leads the theory ofevolution to be no longer considered as a mere hypothesis,thereby recognising that this theory has progressivelyimposed itself on the attention of researchers following aseries of discoveries made in the various disciplines ofknowledge, imposing itself also therefore on the attention oftheologians and bible experts.It would not however be exact to confine only to recent yearsthe climate of mutual listening and serene encounter onsubjects of great relevance. History has also been a witnessto other episodes of intense dialogue with the Roman Pontiffsof which the Academy or some of its members were theprotagonists. This is the case, for example, of Max Planck,



who took it upon himself to explain in a direct way to Pius XIIin 1943 the risks of war connected with the use of armamentsbased upon nuclear fission,19 or the close relationshipbetween Pius XII and Georges Lemaître, who enabled thePontiff to understand from closer to hand at the beginning ofthe 1950s the meaning of the new cosmological modelswhich were by then beginning to become established in thescientific world, and the philosophical, or even theological,questions which at first sight appeared to be involved. Inmore recent years, Carlos Chagas was especially concernedin 1981 to take on board the worries of John Paul II, who wasstill convalescing after the attack on his life, about theconsequences for the planet of a possible nuclear war. Hedecided to himself present the studies carried out on thesubject to the principal Heads of State in his capacity asPresident of the Academy.20

In the letter sent to Padre George Coyne, the Director of theVatican Observatory and a member of the Council of theAcademy, a document which is certainly one of the mostprofound there is on the subject of the dialogue betweenscience and faith, John Paul II observed that science hasacted to purify faith and that faith has acted to generatescientific research, a truth demonstrated by the fact thatGalilean modern science was born in a Christian climate withthe increasing assimilation of the message of freedom placedin the heart of man. Thus, in the same letter, referring to thewider context of universities, the Pope declared that:The Church and academic institutions, because theyrepresent two institutions which are very different but veryimportant, are mutually involved in the domain of humancivilisation and world culture. We carry forward, before God,

enormous responsibilities towards the human conditionbecause historically we have had and we continue to have adetermining influence in the development of ideas andvalues and the course of human actions.21

For this to come about, the Pope stressed the importance ofthere being experts and places especially dedicated to sucha dialogue: the Church for a long time has recognised theimportance of this by founding the Pontifical Academy ofSciences, in which scientists of world renown regularly meeteach other to discuss their research and to communicate tothe wider community the directions research is taking. Butmuch more is required (ibidem).The Academy has also recently dealt with the problem ofnuclear disarmament, maintaining the need to promoterenewable energy such as wind, solar and hydro, which,having accompanied mankind since the dawn of civilization,are best placed to build a human future without risks ofglobal warming, environmental disasters or nuclear

catastrophes. It could not have been otherwise, if theAcademy intended to be faithful to Pope Benedict XVI’sextraordinary indications, who, since the beginning of hispontificate, has sent a strong message that is wellsummarized in this sentence: to cultivate peace, one mustprotect creation!22 The Pope then brings the topic ofenvironmental ecology back to its anthropological andtheological roots, stating several times that: When ‘humanecology’ is respected within society, environmental ecologyalso benefits.23Much has been done, but much remains todo in this dialogue of reconciliation between faith, theology,philosophy and science. The Pontifical Academies ofSciences and of the Social Sciences, both headquartered atthe Casina Pio IV, intend to be ideal spaces for this high-profile interdisciplinary and global dialogue, welcomingscientists, philosophers, theologians, economists,sociologists and jurists without any religious or racialdiscrimination. The messages emanating from the Casina PioIV, which are based on the teaching of the Popes, show theChurch’s interest in scientific work and in the theological,philosophical, ethical, political, cultural and, ultimately,anthropological issues that this activity implies. Often thePopes, through this ‘Scientific Senate’ of theirs, have beenahead of their times in grasping the importance of the newareas of knowledge, or perceiving their possible hazards andidentifying their limits, or even proposing initiatives conduciveto dialogue and research. It is one way of implementing thatlove of truth desired by Pius XI and that love in the truthindicated by Benedict XVI, which should develop and multiplyfor the good of the people and the future of humanity.

Endnotes

1 Statutes of 1976, art. 2, § 1.2 Ibid., art. 3, § 1.3 AAS 28, 1936, p. 427.4 The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Papal Addresses to the Pontifical

Academy of Sciences 1917-2002 and to the Pontifical Academy of SocialSciences 1994-2002. Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VIand John Paul II (The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Scripta Varia, 100,Vatican City, 2003), p. 243 f.

5 Ibid., p. 241 f.6 Cf. E. di Rovasenda and G.B. Marini-Bettòlo, Federico Cesi nel quarto

centenario della nascita (Pontificiae Academiae Scientiarum ScriptaVaria, 63, 1986), p. 18.

7 Ibid., p. 19.8 Cf. G.B. Marini-Bettòlo, Historical Aspects of the Pontifical Academy of

Sciences (Pontificae Academiae Scientiarum Documenta, 21, 1986), p. 10.9 See Year Book (The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican City, 2001),pp. 314-316.

10 Papal Addresses, cit., pp. 91-99.11 Papal Addresses, cit., p. 166.12 Gaudium et Spes, n. 20.13 Cf. E. di Rovasenda, ‘In ricordo dell’antico Presidente della PontificiaAccademia delle Scienze, C. Chagas’, OR, 21-22 Feb. (2000).

14 Cf. ‘Declaration on Nuclear Disarmament’, EV, 7, pp. 1811-1825.15 Papal Addresses, cit., p. 256 ff.16 Cf. Gaudium et Spes, n. 1.17 See above section I.18 Cf. DH 3896-3899.19 R. Ladous, Des Nobel au Vatican. La fondation de l’académie pontificale

des sciences (Cerf, Paris, 1994), p. 144.20 Cf. E. di Rovasenda, loc. cit.21 Papal Addresses, cit., pp. 292-300.22 Benedict XVI, Address to the Members of the Diplomatic Corps, 11

January 2010.23 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 51.



Bibliography

For studies and works of a historicalcharacter see:

di Rovasenda, E. and G.B. Marini-Bettòlo, Federico Cesi nel quartocentenario della nascita (PontificiaeAcademiae Scientiarum Scripta Varia,63, 1986).

Marini-Bettòlo, G.B., Historical Aspectsof the Pontifical Academy of Sciences(Pontificae Academiae ScientiarumDocumenta, 21, 1986).

Marini-Bettòlo, G.B., The Activity of thePontifical Academy of Sciences 1936-1986, (Pontificiae AcademiaeScientiarum Scripta Varia, 67, 1987).

Marchesi, G. ‘La Pontificia Accademiadelle Scienze, luogo d’incontro traragione e fede’, Civiltà Cattolica 139(1988), III, pp. 235-246.

Ladous, R., Des Nobel au Vatican. Lafondation de l’academie pontificale dessciences (Cerf, Paris, 1994).

Poupard, P., (ed.), La nuova immaginedel mondo. Il dialogo fra scienza e fededopo Galileo (Piemme, CasaleMonferrato, 1996).

di Rovasenda, E., ‘In ricordo dell’anticoPresidente della Pontifica Accademiadelle Scienze, C. Chagas’, OR, 21-22Feb. (2000).

Cabibbo, N., Address to the Holy Father,OR, 13-14 Nov. (2000).

Sánchez Sorondo, M., ‘Un luogo didialogo’, Kos, 217 (Europa ScienzeUmane Editrice, 2003), pp. 38-43.

Some publications of the Academy onsubjects referred to in this paper:

Paschini, P., (ed.), Miscellaneagalileana, 3 vols. (Pontificiae AcademiaeScientiarum Scripta Varia, 27 a/b, 1964).

Science and Technology for DevelopingCountries (Pontificiae AcademiaeScientiarum Scripta Varia, 44, 1979).

Pagano, S.M. and A.G. Luciani, Idocumenti del processo di GalileoGalilei (Pontificiae AcademiaeScientiarum Scripta Varia, 53, 1984).

The Artificial Prolongation of Life and theDetermination of the Exact Moment ofDeath (Pontificiae AcademiaeScientiarum Scripta Varia, 60, 1985).

The Responsibility of Science(Pontificiae Academiae ScientiarumScripta Varia, 80, 1988).

Science for Development in a SolidarityFramework (Pontificiae AcademiaeScientiarum Documenta, 25, 1989).

The Determination of Brain Death and itsRelationship to Human Death(Pontificiae Academiae ScientiarumScripta Varia, 83, 1989).

Science in the Context of Human Culture,I-II (Pontificiae Academiae ScientiarumScripta Varia, 85-86, 1990-1991).

Resources and Population (PontificiaeAcademiae Scientiarum Scripta Varia,87, 1991).

The Legal and Ethical Aspects Related tothe Project of the Human Genome(Pontificiae Academiae ScientiarumScripta Varia, 91, 1993).

Year Book (The Pontifical Academy ofSciences, Vatican City, 2001).

Papal Addresses to the PontificalAcademy of Sciences 1917-2002 and tothe Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences1994-2002. Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII,John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II (ThePontifical Academy of Sciences, ScriptaVaria, 100, Vatican City, 2003).

The Pontifical Academy of SciencesCasina Pio IV • 00120 Vatican CityTel. +39 06 698 83451 • Fax +39 06 698 85218www.pas.va • [email protected]

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