Vatican spokesman comments on Pope’s insight into faith-reason relation

(October 03, 2011) According to the Holy See’s spokesman, Pope Benedict XVI revealed a rare insight into the link between faith and reason during his recent visit to Germany. Jesuit priest, Fr. Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, commenting in his weekly editorial for Vatican Television, singled out the Holy Father’s address to seminarians in Freiburg on Sept. 24, during his September 22-25 visit to Germany. He said that besides encouraging seminarians to be studious, the Holy Father spoke about today’s “rationalist and thoroughly scientific world trend” which though “often somewhat pseudo-scientific,” has some positive points. The Holy Father explained that "faith is not a parallel world of feelings…” but it is the key that encompasses everything, gives it meaning, interprets it and also provides its inner ethical orientation…” Therefore it is important to be informed and to understand, to have an open mind, to learn. The Pope noted that popular philosophical theories today that could be out of fashion in 20 years time are still worth learning for some of their enduring insights. Hence it is important to learn to judge and think critically in the light of God. Fr. Lombardi noted that the insistence on the relationship between reason and faith has been one of the characteristics of Pope Benedict’s pontificate but rarely has he explained it so personally and concretely as in his meeting with the seminarians of Freiburg.