SAINTS, POPES, AND JESUITS: AN OVERVIEW OF THE INTERACTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WITH THE GEOSCIENCES

Much of the conflict between science and faith that has plagued other Christian denominations over the years has been more subdued within Roman Catholicism. The Catholic Church has a long history of engagement with earth and planetary sciences, as is commonly known from the Galileo affair. Its long history of support of geological and geophysical research and education through academic institutions is less well known. Among the most famous Catholic geoscientists was Niels Stensen (a.k.a. Steno of Steno’s Law fame), the bishop and “Father of Geology,” who was canonized in 1988.

The Jesuits, a Catholic religious order, have been prominent in the science of geophysics since its inception, and have maintained up to 54 seismological stations around the world. James B. Macelwane, S.J. is among the most accomplished Jesuit seismologists, having founded the Dept. of Geophysics at St. Louis University (1925), headed the Seismological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union, and authored the first textbook on seismology in the U.S. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944.

Several prominent Catholic institutions in the U.S., including Boston College and Notre Dame, have offered geology majors for over 50 years. Recent developments in Catholic higher education include the founding or reform within the last few decades of several new colleges and universities. Although none of these schools has a geology department, all recognize the importance of the sciences in a liberal arts education.

The Catholic Church warmed up to the theory of evolution gradually. Its dealings with the controversial paleontologist and theologian, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, are widely known. In 1996, Pope John Paul II gave a qualified endorsement of evolutionary science in an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, echoing and building on earlier statements by Pope Pius XII in a1950 document. Catholic biochemists have recently taken sides in Intelligent Design arguments, with Michael Behe strongly pro, and Ken Miller strongly con. Young-earth creationism (YEC) has made limited inroads into Catholicism, but strong YEC influence on homeschool science curricula used by many Catholics, and new Catholic organizations such as the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation (founded in 2000) may change that.