For several centuries, there's been a perceived rift between faith and science. While it is true that certain religious communities are wary of scientific findings (they might think they contradict biblical truths), that is not the case of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis noted the alliance of the Church and science in an address September 10, 2022, to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
"I would like to answer a question that not a few people are asking," the pope said at the beginning of his address: "Why did the popes, beginning in 1603, wish to have an Academy of Sciences?"
"As far as I am aware," he added, "no other religious institution has such an academy, and many religious leaders have expressed an interest in establishing one."
The pope noted:
Ally of scientists
The pope went on to discuss various particulars of the Academy's studies in our current times.
At the end of his address, he reaffirmed again the Church's support for scientific progress.
Scientists do not create the world
As Pope Francis noted, this alliance between faith and science, in a common search for truth, has been protected and promoted by the popes.
In a speech to the same academy in 2010, Benedict XVI affirmed the Church's esteem and support for scientific research.
To his encouragement, he added another thought:
