Does the Vatican's top scientist believe in the Big Bang Theory?

The Vatican Observatory is hosting a conference this week.

Some people see faith and science as being at odds. They find it astonishing that the Church can embrace investigation into questions of human origins, such as evolution, the big bang, and other theories which purport to explain how our world works. Not everyone feels this way, including Jesuit Brother, Guy Consolmagno, the director of the Vatican Observatory.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno was recently featured in Crux as the director of the Vatican Observatory in Arizona. The observatory participates in cutting edge astronomical research. Consolmagno is a Jesuit, and he is featured in the article because he does not see a conflict between science and the faith.

The Observatory is hosting a conference this week on "Black Holes, Gravitational Waves and Space-Time Singularities." The conference is zeroing in on research that is also being conducted around the world as researchers seek to test one of Einstein's theories.

"We must believe in a God who is supernatural," Consolmagno told Crux. "We recognize God as the one who is responsible for existence, and our science tells us how he did it."

The article also correctly points out that the Big Bang Theory was originally proposed by Belgian Priest and physicist, Fr. Georges Lemaitre.

Science provides us with the explanation of how things came to be, how they work, and it allows us to make predictions about the future. These are useful, practical qualities that enable us to improve our world, lengthen our lifespans, and satiate our curiosities.

But science doesn't explain why. Why is there a world instead of nothing? Science can venture a guess from a physical perspective. But science does little to attach meaning to the happening.

Likewise, questions about God cannot be resolved by science. Science is only concerned with what can be measured. Yet God cannot be measured. What units should a scientist use to quantify God? There are none.

God is by definition supernatural, and therefore beyond the realm of science. The answers to all questions relating to God are within the realm of faith.

But to believe in science, which is a method of rational inquiry designed to provide probabilities, some to the point of virtual certainty, is not exclusive to having faith in God. One can accept the Big Bang and evolution, and still believe there is a God above who arbitrates justly and desires union with His free and glorious creation.

If you wish to fly to the Moon, science is your vehicle, if you wish to fly to heaven, then look to faith; both are yours!

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