"HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?" Francis Schaeffer

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Pope John Paul II

from his Address to International Space Conference in January, 1997:

Your dedication to scientific research constitutes a veritable vocation at the service of the human family, a vocation which the Church greatly honours and esteems. That vocation is all the more fruitful when it helps us to acknowledge the link between the beauty and order of the universe and the dignity of the human person-reflections of the creative majesty of God. The more men and women of science engage in rigorous research to penetrate the laws of the universe, the more insistent becomes the question of meaning and purpose, the more pressing the demand for contemplative reflection which cannot help but lead to a profound appreciation of the sense of man's transcendence over the world, and of God over man (cf. Address at UNESCO, 2 June 1980, n. 22).

Through you, who have kindly wished to share the deliberations of your conference with me, I address an appeal to all your colleagues in the various fields of scientific investigation: Make every effort to respect the primacy of ethics in your work; always be concerned with the moral implications of your methods and your discoveries. It is my prayer that scientists will never forget that the cause of humanity is authentically served only if knowledge is joined to conscience.

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