c. 2005 Religion News Service
SYRACUSE, N.Y. _ From Brother Guy J. Consolmagno’s perspective, the latest chapter in the evolution vs. creationism debate focuses on the wrong question.
“The idea of insisting God did something misses the whole glory of the universe,” the Vatican astronomer said in an interview.
Consolmagno recently discussed the connections between science and religion at Le Moyne College here. His visit came in the midst of national controversy over an alternative to evolution called intelligent design.
Proponents of intelligent design say life on Earth was the product of an unidentified intelligent force. Opponents say the theory promotes the Bible’s view of creation.
“People who want to use science to prove God did something are making a fundamental mistake,” Consolmagno said between lecturing at biology and Latin classes.
“It makes science more important than God,” he said. “People are trying to impose what they think their religion is on science. I also see people imposing what they think they know about science on religion.”
Science never gives the absolute truth, he told about 15 students in a talk that described how stars are created.
“The best it can do is give a story that fits all the information we have now,” he said. “Every time you get a new piece of information, you have to ponder.”
People’s understanding of science and faith needs to change as they learn more, he said.
“Both science and religion are things we learn as children. For too many people, learning stops at 10,” he said. “People are going through life with a 10-year-old’s knowledge of science. And they’re going through life with a 10-year-old’s knowledge of religion.”
Consolmagno, 53, spends about half the year in Rome, where he serves as curator of the Vatican meteorite collection. He said he has not met Pope Benedict XVI.
He also spends time in Tucson, Ariz., where he researches asteroids.
In a 2004 interview with Astrobiology Magazine, Consolmagno said his job allows the church “to show the world that it’s not afraid of science, that it supports science, that it thinks science is a wonderful thing.”
Consolmagno is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a doctorate in planetary science from the University of Arizona. He served for two years with the Peace Corps in Kenya and entered the Jesuit order in 1989.
Consolmagno conceded the Catholic Church earned the reputation of being hostile toward science because of its treatment of Galileo, the Italian astronomer and physicist condemned for heresy in 1632 because he supported Copernicus’ theory that planets revolve around the sun.
“What really happened to Galileo does not reflect well on the church,” Consolmagno said. “They never should have used their power to suppress him. He was caught up in the politics of the day.”
Science and faith do not contradict each other, he said.
“Of course God did it,” he said. “I want to know how God did it.”
(Rene Gadoua writes for The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y.)
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