Address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

(October 28, 2010) The progress made in scientific knowledge in the twentieth century, in all its various disciplines, has led to a greatly improved awareness of the place that man and this planet occupy in the universe, said Pope Benedict XVI. He was addressing the Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Thursday, in Rome as they gathered for the Plenary Session to reflect on ‘The Scientific Legacy of the Twentieth Century’. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is a scientific academy of the Vatican, was founded in 1936 by Pope Pius XI with the aim to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of related epistemological problems. The Pontiff said that the history of science in the twentieth century is one of undoubted achievement and major advances. But its task was and remains a patient yet passionate search for the truth about the cosmos, about nature and about the constitution of the human being. The current meeting said the Pope, is a proof of the Church’s esteem for ongoing scientific research and of her gratitude for scientific endeavour, which she both encourages and benefits from. He added that the scientist’s experience as a human being is that of perceiving a constant, a law, logos that he has not created but that he has instead observed. This leads us to admit the existence of an all-powerful Reason, which is other than that of man, and which sustains the world. This is the meeting point between the natural sciences and religion. As a result, science becomes a place of dialogue, a meeting between man and nature and, potentially, even between man and his Creator, said Pope Benedict XVI. Finally, the sciences deepen our wonder of the complexity of nature, it should help to resolve the problems of humanity directing towards the real good and integral development of man.