Pope Pius XII was a significant pope for science. The pope was in correspondence with the father of the “Big Bang Theory,” George Lemaître, who just happened to be a Belgian Catholic priest. Pius XII also wrote the famous encyclical letter Humani Generis in 1950, which allowed Catholics to explore the theory of evolution according to the evidence and certain parameters. In 1941, Pius XII also declared the Dominican saint, Albert the Great, the “heavenly patron of those who follow the natural sciences.”[1] And rightly so.

St. Albert’s works add up to more than thirty-eight volumes, covering not only the topics of philosophy and theology, but also botany, geography, astronomy, mineralogy, zoology, physiology, justice, law, friendship, and love. And he not only summarized the knowledge of his time. He added to it through his own observations and experiments. For example, he is credited with discovering and isolating arsenic.[2] And, interestingly, in his book on minerals, he insisted that “it is the task of natural science not simply to accept what we are told but to inquire into the causes of natural things.”[3] Such a principle would be foundational for the later development of the modern scientific method.

St. Albert was interested in everything, since, for him, everything spoke of God. This is how we should see things as well. In our world, there are, on the one hand, atheists and agnostics who think that religion is a myth and an obstacle to science. On the other hand, there are religious fundamentalists who see science as a threat to Christian faith and biblical belief. But a Catholic approach avoids both fideism and rationalism and instead sees faith and reason as working together in harmony. In the Catholic tradition, philosophy has been called the handmaid of theology. Faith and reason have also been called two different lights that illumine truth for us,[4] either the truths of reason, or the truths of God’s revelation. Both enrich us with knowledge about the Creator and His creation. John Paul II spoke of faith and reason as “two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.”[5]

Science is a large tent under the umbrella of reason and philosophy. And it has been rightly said to be a pursuit and method, not just a fixed body of knowledge. It tends to be self-correcting, self-improving, and self-expanding with time, if followed correctly. Not all findings have the same degree of certitude. But, slowly, over time, our knowledge develops about all facets of material reality. If in the period of the Enlightenment, there was over-confidence in trying to figure everything out, in the modern world we have discovered that there is no exhausting our knowledge of reality. The more we learn, the more we learn how much we don’t know. Indeed, creation is full of mystery, and modern science highlights this more than ever before. And no wonder—the infinite mystery of God is imprinted in the mystery of creation. 

Centuries ago, the book of Wisdom says of idolaters, “If through the delight in the beauty of these things [created things] men assumed them to be gods, let know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created them. And if men were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them how much more powerful is he who formed them. For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator” (Wis 13:3-5).

In theology and philosophy, we reflect over God more directly. In the many branches of science, we reflect over God more indirectly. In theology, we study God in light of His creation and revelation. In natural science, we study His creation. We Catholics, guided and inspired by our faith, should be keenly interested in studying the natures, behaviors, movements, order, and structures of all things because finite order and finite beauty reflect infinite order and infinite beauty. Created things reflect the Uncreated God. So, we should be profoundly interested in what the best science reveals to us about the universe God created, about ourselves, and about Him. 

Science is also useful. It can and should be applied for the betterment of human life and the world. This is an area where faith is crucial as well because science can be applied in ethical ways or evil ways. Faith illumines the ethical parameters.

Holy Mother Church clarifies that science should never be used to kill innocent life from its beginning at conception, or to thwart or replace the sexual intimacy between husband and wife. Science can be used, however, to learn the reproductive cycle of the woman and to work with it in regulating births when there is good reason. And technology in general, instead of being completely unbridled or only driven by the marketplace, needs to be used at service to human dignity and the common good, including the good stewardship of creation. So, science can be used in accord with human dignity and aid nature’s functions. When used in this way, it is good. When used against human dignity and the way we are designed, it is not good. 

Today, a few days after the feast of St. Albert, we celebrate this Gold Mass in honor of St. Albert and for scientists. We celebrate the gift of all creation, its intelligibility, and our ability to plumb its depths through the methods of natural science.

Scientists have an important task: to deepen our knowledge of the universe and of life, to teach, to improve our lot by technologies and habits and medicines discovered to be beneficial, and to be guided by the parameters of faith and ethics. 

We pray for scientists and science students in a special way today, then, that the Holy Spirit will help them in their studies, guide them in their pursuit of deeper knowledge, and help them to glorify God and serve the betterment of humankind through what they discover, apply, and invent.

St. Albert the Great, pray for us!

[1] Pope Pius XII, Apostolic letter. December 16, 1941.

[2] John Emsley. Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. pp. 43, 513, 529.

[3] Wyckoff, Dorothy (1967). Book of Minerals. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. Preface.

[4] https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/science-and-the-search-for-wisdom

[5] John Paul II, Fides et Ratio. Opening paragraph.