When you hear of the Catholic Church and "following the science" (to use the currently popular term), Galileo usually comes up.
But to reduce the history of the Church and science to just that one historical event is to miss out on most of the story. It certainly threatens to cloud your vision of the whole.
The history of science is full of deeply religious scientists who see their work more or less as described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 159):
“the humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature ... being led, as it were, by the hand of God … for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.”
Christopher Graney, an official of the Vatican Observatory, recently invited Aleteia readers through a brief but enlightening journey of the Church-and-science history.
He starts much farther back than Galileo -- even before the Council of Nicaea, which we are celebrating this year 1,700 years on.
And he points out one interesting moment when it was the Church that rescued "science" from a huge blunder: that of seeing the “black race” as being removed from “true” humans.
He also gives a deeper look than most to the Galileo case.
For those who consider themselves truth-seekers, either through science or through faith (or hopefully through both!), this series is enlightening.
Take a look by following the links here, but read the articles in reverse order, starting with the last one first.
