Catholic luminaries: Faith, science not at odds

When a talented, middle-school art student questioned the existence of God, citing a conflict with science, while on a field trip to view Benedictine monk Dom Gregory de Wit murals at St. Joseph Abbey, his teacher, artist/illustrator Jaclyn Warren, was taken aback.

“I was a little bit surprised that somebody in seventh grade already was convinced God didn’t exist because science had proven otherwise,” she said.

A short time later, Warren’s mother mentioned a young relative at age 7 who had similar doubts. Warren, a cradle Catholic, wondered if other young students thought the same.

Concerned that souls were on the line, Warren talked with her husband David, a filmmaker who converted to Catholicism shortly after meeting her. They decided to work together to dispel the misplaced conflict of art and science.

That began their two-year journey to birth “Brilliant!” – a 107-page hardcover book. It features Jaclyn’s beautiful, black-and-white realistic yet somewhat whimsical illustrations and David’s research and prose about brilliant Catholic scientists and mathematicians.

“75% of school-age children believe in this conflict model that is either science or religion,” Warren said. “Once these kids (especially evangelical Christians) get to college and hear the argument, they completely abandon religion; they see it as a myth. (They think) ‘Science is provable, look at the fossil records.’ We saw a need for a book like this to teach kids you don’t have to choose. You can have both.”

“Brilliant!” was released in November as a joint project by Pauline Books and Media and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

“Considering the strong sentiment that religion and science just don’t go together, we thought it was important to set the record straight and tell the stories of incredible men and women who influenced the world of science and completely lived out their Catholic faith,” David Warren said.

Not all are famous

The book highlights 25 Catholics with ground-breaking discoveries in science and math.

Some are prominent in their fields, such as:

► Louis Pasteur, the founder of microbiology, believed science brings people closer to the creator;

► Pope Francis, a strong environmentalist, said “modern science does not do away with the need for God. … Catholicism teaches that God created the universe and holds it in existence.”

Others chronicled, such as mathematician Maria Agnesi, are not well known, yet all of their contributions made huge impacts on the world.

“We really looked for people, who were not only big game-changers in the sciences but were also good Catholics,” said Jaclyn, who met David, then a Presbyterian, at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). “It was part of David’s research – looking for good Catholics who were ethical” and strong examples of living their Catholic faith.

About a third of those profiled are women. Among them are:

► St. Gianna Molla, who showed young girls they can be a mother and a doctor.

► Daughter of Charity Sister Hilary Ross, who worked among those who contracted Hansen’s disease (leprosy) in Carville, Louisiana. Her meticulous documentation of patients on paper and her photographs helped doctors find a cure.

► Sister of Charity Mary Kenneth Keller, whose team at Dartmouth University created the breakthrough BASIC computer language, making it simpler for everyone to learn to use computers. She also wrote four computer science books.

One woman featured, Karin Öberg, is currently an astrochemistry professor at Harvard University. She wasn’t Catholic, but by studying the formation of the galaxy with its stars and planets, she realized how it “reflects the glory and creativity of God in a very special way” and converted. She now co-leads the Society of Catholic Scientists.

Among other “brilliant” Catholic minds in “Brilliant!” are:

► Copernicus, a Polish mathematician and father of modern astronomy who believed studying the universe would deepen his admiration of God;

► St. Albert the Great, patron saint of scientists and philosophers who discovered arsenic, was a bishop and doctor of the church;

► Father Georges Lemaître, the father of the “Big Bang” theory, whose name is part of the law that describes the expansion of our universe, the Hubble-Lemaître Law;

► French Catholic inventor Louis Braille, inventor of a special form of writing for those who cannot see and who also devised symbols for math and musical notation.

► Italian Father Angelo Secchi, an astronomer and astrophysics pioneer, who operated a telescope on top of a church, reinforcing how science and religion align.

Second book in discussion

David credited editors at Pauline Books for keeping the biographies short and understandable for middle schoolers and for vetting the many super smart Catholics he chose. The Warrens also commended Chris Baglow, Ph.D., an author (who wrote the book’s foreword) and director of the Science and Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University Notre Dame, for his guidance.

“Our goal with this book is to arm these children with facts and knowledge,” David said. “Science is not a threat or conflict with the Catholic faith. Science and religion are both a pursuit of the truth.

“When we study the creative works of God – biology, astrophysics, nature – we are studying the creation of God and character of God. It is a lie that a person has to reject a belief in God to embrace science. … We want to provide ammunition to defend against this lie that is leading so many people away from their faith.”

A second book is currently being discussed with Pauline.

“Our plan is to focus on Catholic creatives (artists),” Jaclyn said.

Bishop Barron lauds the book on video at https://store.wordonfire.org/collections/books/products/brilliant and the book can also be found at bit.ly/3p9eXjP for $24.95.

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