Hundreds of high school students were asked to open their hearts and their intellects during the St. Albert Initiative, a half-day program on faith and science, March 6.
The event, held at Bellarmine University, aimed to teach them one lesson:
“That there’s a profound harmony between science and the faith,” explained Dr. Stephen Barr during an interview.
Barr, who presented the keynote address at the event, is president of the Society of Catholic Scientists and professor emeritus in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Delaware.
The initiative drew about 500 students and educators from the Archdiocese of Louisville, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Dioceses of Owensboro, Evansville, Nashville and Steubenville. It was organized by the Society of Catholic Scientists and the Science and Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.
Opening the program, Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre spoke to the young people and prayed for them. The topic of faith and science is a “very timely” one, he told them.
There are many “voices” saying that faith and science are at odds, he said, noting that the church respects but does not agree with them.
“I’m confident and I know you will gain a deeper understanding of how the two really do go together,” he said. “I invite you to open your mind and your heart, open your intellect and your reason to all that will be shared with you today, to come to understand that which the living God desires to present to you today so that you too might come to understand there’s no contradiction between faith and science.”
The archbishop prayed that God would “illuminate our minds and hearts, helping us to see the awe-inspiring beauty of your creation in every scientific endeavor. … May our exploration of the universe, the scientific study and inquiry draw us closer to you, the creator of all that is good and true.”
During the program, Barr said, he hopes students would learn that the church — both clergy and laity — has made “enormous” contributions to science for centuries, going back to the Middle Ages.
He told his young listeners that various priests founded branches of science. Among them are Father Georges Lemaitre, the founder of the Big Bang Theory; Father Gregor Mendel, who founded the study of genetics; and Blessed Nicolas Steno, who founded the study of geology
During the program, the teachers who accompanied students shared Barr’s hope.
Sharron Hilbrecht, a theology teacher at Holy Cross High School who accompanied a group of students, said, “I hope they’ll leave with a renewed sense of awe about our faith and the world and an understanding of how it’s complementary in more ways than they ever thought.”
“So much of our world now is ‘either or,’ ” said Hillbrecht. “This is showing them that it can be both.”
Brigid Melega, a theology teacher at Bethlehem High School, said she hopes her students learned there are many ways to find truth and use it to serve Jesus and the church.
“I hope they receive the grace to have confidence in the truth. I hope they realize truth can be found in everything that they study and that all truth leads to God, wonder and joy,” said Melega. “There are many ways to find truth and serve Jesus and the church. Some of those ways include the priesthood (or religious life). They may be called to study science and math and, they too, are called to be saints and help people see the connection between God, the reality and the world.”
Dr. Kate Bulinski, an associate professor of paleontology at Bellarmine who helped organize the event, said the event was a success, noting that students from all nine high schools in the archdiocese plus a large group from Immaculata Classical Academy (a kindergarten through 12th-grade school) attended.
“Just to see that many young people gathered to hear that message was amazing to see,” said Bulinksi, who is a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists and the archdiocese’s Faith and Science Dialogue group.
Bulinski said she hopes that “every single person came away with a clear message that science and faith aren’t only compatible, but they enhance each other.”
The initiative’s mission is to “promote to young people the message that science and faith are both ways to uncover truth about our world. And it’s best when they are together,” she said.
The event included “lightning” rounds, which consisted of various short presentations. The students also took part in a “poster session,” where they visited different stations where scientists spoke about their work and took questions.
The stations included one on astronomy where students could look through the lens of a 150-year-old telescope that belonged to Monsignor Michael Bouchet — an inventor and priest who served as vicar general for the then-Diocese of Louisville in the 1870s.
