Dangers of anti-Catholic academic extremism....

1/16/2008 - 07:24 PST
By Hugh McNichol
Op/Ed

Observers throughout the world have observed the recent decision of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to cancel his visit to Sapienza Universita di Roma this week after student dissidents objected to a speech he made years ago as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Unfortunately, the disgruntled faculty and student body that cite this previous text have not quite read the entire proclamation regarding the Church’s treatment of Galileo and the former Cardinal’s exoneration of Galileo’s teachings at the conclusion of the speech.

The dissenting students and faculty are adamant about the perception that the Holy Father is “anti-science,” in his papal ministry and his theological ponderings. There really cannot be anything further from the truth than branding the former Joseph Ratzinger, an esteemed theologian and scholar as someone that is an antithesis of scientific research and discovery. Perhaps the real matter at hand here is the inclusion of individuals that have a desire to eliminate any inclusion of theological related theories into the study and development of modern science.

It appears to this author that what is going on here is sort of reverse Inquisition, which seeks to defame any pursuit and inclusion of religious beliefs into the empirical world of scientific observation and discovery. This protest by the students and faculty of Rome’s Sapienza University is the precipice of a slippery slope that really threatens a global appreciation of Catholic theological development and its historical foundations. The protesters involved in this dispute seem mainly to be concerned with the fact that the Church in the past has at times dealt a rather heavy hand to the empirical sciences and at times was consistently opposed to certain paths of scientific study.

How unfortunate that a university that has in the foundational root of its name and purpose the word, Sapienza…which means wisdom or knowledge is directly opposed to the free exchange and development of scientific ideas simply because they are speculated by the Bishop of Rome. Such animosity against a papal visit clearly indicates the university has excluded many aspects of free philosophical thought and its open expression for the extremely parochial view of secular science sans theological and historical appreciation for the pursuit of higher studies in the physical sciences. Could it be that there is a movement at play here that reeks of secular humanism and purely empirical science that is seeking to undermine the philosophical expressions of natural law and the expression of right reason?

The stage is dangerously set when an educational institution, which was founded by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303, permits an overzealous and perhaps fundamentally misinformed group of students and faculty to disrupt and subsequently cancel a papal speech at this ancient educational facility. Regardless of the message the Holy Father proclaims, he has the right and obligation to impart Catholic teaching and Catholic perspective into an educational forum, which rightly should uphold and foster freedom of religious and scientific expression…regardless of which enclave to which the protesters belong.

Seriously, the papal decision not to attend this engagement at the university is indicative of the fact that there seems to exist in the secular scientific community an anti-Catholic sentiment that is being fostered by the secular educational process and opponents of religious freedom of thought and expression. Isn’t this the same global epidemic we are always afraid of encountering when we speak of the aggressive spread of Islam and religious extremism that is rampant throughout the Middle East.

The Catholic Church has every right to express its opinion on matters of scientific experimentation and developments, not because the issue is based on opinion alone. It is because the issue includes a consistent and fundamental respect for the intrinsic dignity of all human beings to freely exist and prosper in whatever cognitive expression they choose. The imminent danger expressed by dissident students and faculty at Sapienza University indicates perhaps a new age of the same old demon…extremism on the part of empirical scientists.

Benedict XVI’s media machine has announced that it might be, “imprudent,” for a papal visit to the university at this time. Unfortunately that sense of, “imprudence,” might well be rooted in the sentiments of academic and institutional aspects of public disobedience that might cause harm or injury to either the Pontiff or the assembled group. I applaud the Holy Father’s decision not to attend a public symposium that might invoke or instigate public protests or even violence. However, the Holy Father’s speech will still find a proper vehicle of expression and publication through the global communications opportunities available to the See of Peter.

Our 21st century society seems set upon imposing restrictions upon the free expression of beliefs and ideas that include religious understanding of the development of all mankind. This trend is unfortunate, because it increases the risk of secular and scientific isolation from the mystery of God’s plan of creation. Furthermore, such academic polarities enhance the already wide schism of cooperation between global communities of religious, scientific and secular communities, where the enhancement of human life and dignity should be the universal goal.

Comments

It is obvious that you and I are from differing ends of the philosophical spectrum, and in many areas don't agree on politics, either. That being said, I have to suggest that having a dialog with the devil himself might prove instructive, and so I don't know that I would duck such a meeting, except that I'd be scared as hell. As for the two individuals you mentioned below, if they were not allowed to speak their minds or ideologies in a public venue for the benefit of analysis, then no one would know anything about them except what was reported from third, fourth, fifth, sixth, ad nauseam, sources, about as valuable as a pile of mud. If I understood your post, you were protesting the actions of the anti-papal collective of the Italian university who decried the pope's planned visit. I happen to agree with you. I think it is important to have him speak, for the record, on areas or subjects that are on his mind. Just like Castro, Ahmadinajad, Putin, even Kim Il Sung and whoever is charge of China right now should be allowed to expound on their respective philosophies, religions, plans, differences and similarities. Because if we shun what they have to say, the people, us, have no chance of learning the good and bad of their respective points of view out of their own mouths. In other words, let them convict themselves with their own words, not those of some NSA analyst whose analysis can be subject to administration modification.

Before you get really irritated with me, consider that what I am arguing for is a dialog. In fact, I think a lot of what is going in with me personally, and I suspect with many of the members of this group is more about the intransigence of the RCC regarding many things, including but not limited to: the about face the Vatican has put on the Vatican II reforms, the role of women in worship, clergy and religious celibacy, abuse of power, lay empowerment, and most egregious of all, the unwillingness to accept responsibility for the ongoing revelations about clergy and religious sex abuse of the innocent.

So, I would propose to you, if you have any pull at all with the Vatican or anyone up the chain of command, that you exert your influence to convince them that we are not enemies, but we are not idiots, either, and they, despite the trappings of office and 1700 years of history, are not the only beloved of God. Convince them, on behalf of thinking Catholics everywhere, to acknowledge there is room for discussion and growth. Maybe then the Church can come out of all of this with a whole skin, more or less.

Sincerely,

Eugene

The Papal Speech a secular University prevented

1/17/2008
Catholic News Agency

Pope Benedict XVI concluded the speech he was not allowed to give with these words:"...it is my duty to keep alive the sensibility for the truth, which means to always invite reason to go in search of the truth, the good, God."

ROME (CNA) - "I don't come to impose the faith, but to ask of you the courage for the truth," these were the opening words of Pope Benedict's speech that he was supposed to deliver tomorrow at La Sapienza University in Rome.

The Holy Father's visit to Rome’s oldest university, which was founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, was suspended after a group of professors and students threatened to disrupt the event with their protests.

"What has a Pope to do or say at a University? Certainly not to impose the faith on others in an authoritarian way, which can only be given to others in freedom," the Pope writes in his speech meant to be delivered at La Sapienza.

Instead of speaking to the students and faculty, the address had to be published in the daily edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

In his speech, Benedict XVI points out that "La Sapienza was once the Pope's university but today it is a secular university with the autonomy that has been part of the nature of any university, committed only to the authority of truth."

"In its freedom from political or ecclesiastic authorities the university finds its particular role, [a role which is] even for modern society, which has a need for such an institution," the Pontiff wrote.

The Holy Father also argues that it is possible to prove religious truths.

"Many things said by theologians in our [Church] history or even practiced by Church authorities, have been proven false by history. Nevertheless, it is true that the history of the saints, the history of Humanism grown on the foundations of the Christian faith, demonstrates that at its essential core is the truth of the faith, thus giving it a role in public reason."

The Holy Father also warns about the growing danger of utilitarianism in Western civilization: "man, precisely because of the greatness of his knowledge and power, may surrender in the face of the question about truth. And that means at the same time that reason, in the end, caves in front of the pressure of interests and the lure of utility, make of it the last decisive criteria."

Benedict XVI concludes his speech by highlighting that because of his role as Shepherd of the Church, "it is my duty to keep alive the sensibility for the truth, which means to always invite reason to go in search of the truth, the good, God."

Pope will not visit Roman University

1/17/2008
Vatican Information Service

"In the wake of the widely-publicised events of the last few days... it was considered opportune to postpone the event.The Holy Father will, nonetheless, send the text of the speech he had been due to pronounce".Holy See Press Office

VATICAN CITY (VIS) - The Pope will not make the visit he was scheduled to make tomorrow, 17 January, to Rome's "La Sapienza" University for the inauguration of the academic year, according to a communique released yesterday evening by the Holy See Press Office.

The communique reads: "In the wake of the widely-publicised events of the last few days relating to the Holy Father's visit to Rome's 'La Sapienza' University which, at the invitation of the rector, was to have taken place on Thursday, 17 January, it was considered opportune to postpone the event.The Holy Father will, nonetheless, send the text of the speech he had been due to pronounce".

The "events" to which the note refers include a petition to the rector signed by 67 professors asking for the invitation to Benedict XVI to be withdrawn, and protests by groups of students who yesterday occupied the rector's office to demand the right to demonstrate within the university campus on the day of the Pope's visit.

The signatories of the petition take exception to a talk given by the then Cardinal Ratzinger in 1990, and in particular to a phrase he used on that occasion to the effect that "in Galileo's time the Church remained much more faithful to reason than Galileo himself. The trial against Galileo was reasonable and just".

The future Pope's remarks, a quote from a work by the philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend, were made in the context of a talk on the crisis of confidence in science, in which he used the example of changing attitudes towards the case of Galileo.

Professor: Rejection of Pope is fear of dialogue between faith and reason

1/17/2008
Catholic News Agency

"This is just a part of the secularist culture that has no argument, so it demonizes, it does not argue as a real secular culture, but creates monsters." Professor Giorgio Israel

ROME (CNA) - Opposition to Pope Benedict’s now postponed appearance at La Sapienza University, has led Professor Giorgio Israel to write that the resistance of his colleagues is a sign of fear about a dialogue between faith and reason taking place.

In an article published by L'Osservatore Romano, Israel, who is also a professor of mathematics at La Sapienza, argues that the protest against the Pope's scheduled speech "is particularly surprising since Italian universities are supposed to be places open to any kind of position, and it makes no sense that only the Pope is denied access."

According to Israel, the reason why the liberal "openness" has been put aside in the case of the Holy Father "has been explained by Marcello Cini –one of the intellectuals opposing the Pope's visit— in his letter to the University's Dean."

"What Cini regards as 'dangerous,' is the fact that the Pope may try to open a dialogue between faith and reason, to reestablish a connection between the Judeo-Christian and the Greek tradition, and that science and faith may not be separated by an impenetrable wall."

"The opposition to the Pope's visit,” Israel writes, is therefore “not motivated by an abstract principle of secularism. The opposition is of an ideological nature and has Benedict XVI as its specific target for speaking on science and about the relationship between science and faith, instead of limiting himself to speak only about faith."

Israel says that the letter of a group of scientists criticizing the Pope for his alleged justification of the Church's stand towards Galileo in the past "is just an expression of a feeling against the person of the Pope himself."

The group of scientists, in fact, criticized the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for quoting the philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend during a conference delivered at La Sapienza on February 15 1990. Cardinal Ratzinger quoted from Feyerabend when he claimed that during Galileo's age, "the Church remained more faithful to reason than Galileo himself."

In his article, Israel says that the scientists criticizing the Pope have not read the conference in its entirety. According to mathematician, the quote from an Agnostic scientist and others were not used by then Cardinal Ratzinger to defend the Church, but "to make the point of how modernity has become doubtful of itself and of today's science and technology."

In other words, the Pope's remarks at that time "were a clear defense of Galilean rationality against the skepticism and relativism of our postmodern culture”, wrote Israel.

Prof. Israel says that such "inattentive, superficial and careless reading" of the Pope's 1990 conference should be regarded "as a shame and a professional failure."

"But I am afraid that here intellectual rigor has very little to do [with their motivations] and that the intention is to build a barrier at any cost," especially when considering that some of the signers of the letter against the Pope "have never expressed a word of criticism against Islamic fundamentalism or against those denying the Shoah."

"This is just a part of the secularist culture that has no argument, so it demonizes, it does not argue as a real secular culture, but creates monsters."

"This is why the threat against the Pope is a tragedy from a cultural and civic perspective," Israel concludes.