Going Deeper
Pope John Paul II and the Faith/Science Dialogue
Pope John Paul II sought to bring the scientific world and the Church “into a new period of mutually respectful and creative interactions, one whose momentum and vision continue to guide us today.”
https://inters.org/reflection-on-John-Paul-II-science-religion
In the Holy Father’s 1988 letter to Rev. George Coyne, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory, he wrote:
“Turning to the relationship between religion and science, there has been a definite, though still fragile and provisional, movement towards a new and more nuanced interchange. We have begun to talk to one another on deeper levels than before, and with greater openness towards one another’s perspectives. We have begun to search together for a more thorough understanding of one another’s disciplines, with their competencies and their limitations, and especially for areas of common ground.
In doing so we have uncovered important questions which concern both of us, and which are vital to the larger human community we both serve. It is crucial that this common search based on critical openness and interchange should not only continue but also grow and deepen in its quality and scope.”
In response to Pope John Paul II’s desire for an ongoing dialogue between Science and the Church, in 2016, the Society of Catholic Scientists was founded.
See https://catholicscientists.org/
Catholic priest and a prominent atheist scientist have a respectful discussion.
Telling the story of the late French Jesuit priest and scientist, the documentary, “TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist”
You can view the movie in its entirety on PBS here.
“The American Teilhard Association explores and shares the insights and cosmic vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. through scholarship, artistic expression, and educational programming.”
Please see https://teilharddechardin.org/
Chinese: by Dr. John C. H. Wu, Beyond East and West, 1951 (still in print)
At the family Rosary, I have often spoken to our children something to the following effect: “There is only one true Father, that is our Father in Heaven. There is only one true Mother, that is the Mother of God. Your Mommy and your Daddy are only the temporary representatives of the true Father and the true Mother. I appreciate the wonderful filial piety you have shown toward us, but always remember there is a higher filial piety, that towards God. Don’t depend on us, depend on Him. For we shall be taken from you sooner or later, but God will never leave you. Do not think that we have a big family, for however big the family may be, sooner or later we shall be scattered. In this world, there is no feast that does not come to an end. If, therefore, you want to see this family united forever, there is only one way to attain this end, and-that is for every one of us to be united with Christ. Whether we are together, whether we are separated, so long as we are united with Christ, we are united in Christ. There is only one separation that is real, the separation between Heaven and hell. If all of us belong to Heaven, then we are united in life and in death. If one of us belong to Heaven, and another to hell, then we are separated even in life. Physical togetherness means nothing; what is of value is spiritual togetherness.”
The entire book can be found here: Beyond East and West : John C.H. Wu : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Evans, Joseph and Ngoc Nguyen. “The Virgin Mary as a Source of Strength, Comfort, and Hope for Asian Women: Our Lady of La Vang (Vietnam) and Our Lady of Health (Vailankanni, India).” Maria: A Journal of Marian Studies. Vol. 3, No. 1 (May 2023): 1-18.
https://www.marianstudies.ac.uk/maria-new-series-vol-3-1-may
The Illuminated Window: Stories Across Time is presented as a series of richly illustrated case studies of iconic stained glass, by distinguished scholar Professor Virginia Chieffo Raguin who was also a Contributor to the Rosary book.
An excerpt appears here from Book Review | Vidimus).
To understand stained glass windows, Raguin asserts we must first seek to understand their setting, their creators, their patrons, and the circumstances of their production. The chapter on Cologne Cathedral, for example, presents four phases of the cathedral’s glazing alongside a comprehensive discursive journey that encompasses the role of reliquaries in medieval society; the revival of twelfth-century typological themes during the Renaissance; the nineteenth-century Nazarene school of painting; and the expansion of Catholicism in America.
The chapters on Canterbury Cathedral also draws upon contemporary reliquaries and manuscript illustrations to explore the symbiotic relationship between pilgrimage and stained glass. At St Mary’s Church in Fairford, Gloucertershire, we learn how religious literature such as Nicholas Love’s The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ may have informed the subject matter of the windows. As Raguin writes of the parishioners, “their lives were dominated by family relation the negotiations of marriage and the joys and dangers of giving birth. They supported imagery that spoke to their world.”
