This is not news, of course – Catholic News Service reported as much in an interview with the new director two weeks ago, immediately after the implications were voiced iin the British press.
Lesson: if it’s Catholic matters at issue, do take a look at what the Catholics are saying about it.
However, the Corner posting is useful for quoting a letter from Fr. Coyne himself on the matter:
Transitions like this always seem to generate some imaginative journalism. In this case, upon my return from a vacation during which I purposely avoided the news, I hear some media reports that I have been dismissed by the Pope. This is simply not true. The work of the Vatican Observatory under my directorship has been enthusiastically supported by John Paul I, if for ever so short a reign, by John Paul II in many marvelous ways and now by Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict, to my mind, has renewed his enthusiastic support for the Observatory’s work…
Coyne also explained in his email to me that it was his own idea to step down from his position and find a replacement:
For some years I have, upon realizing that a scientific research institute such as ours requires a continuous input of new initiatives, suggested to Jesuit superiors that they search for a new director of this work. In May of this year upon my repeated request they finally agreed to begin a search for a new director resulting, rather rapidly to my delight, in the appointment of José Funes. Upon completing almost 28 years as director (I was appointed by John Paul I on 2 September 1978) I have been granted a sabbatical year which I will spend as a parish priest at St. Raphael the Archangel Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. In September 2007 I will return to the work of the Vatican Observatory. Thanks, José, for promising to have me back! I will remain as President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.
That’s interesting – Catholics in Raleigh, take note!
And if you’ve not yet seen it, Father Fessio on the pope’s seminar this past weekend:
This year’s topic was "Creation and Evolution," and one of the presenters was Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, who has argued against what he called "ideological Darwinism." That prompted media speculation that the pope was considering a shift in the church’s general acceptance of the theory of evolution.
But U.S. Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, who attended the symposium, said nothing was presented at the meeting that "would break new ground or that lays the foundation for a new position."
And while participants discussed the relationship among faith, reason and science, Father Fessio said that "the whole American debate on intelligent design did not occur at all here."
Father Fessio said the overall thrust of the presentations and discussion, in which the pope took an active part, confirmed the idea that the church can live with evolution as an explanation of the "how" of creation, as long as evolutionary theory does not try to exclude a divine cause.
He said the philosophical component was an important part of the symposium, which went beyond the perspectives of religion and natural science.
Reuters quotes another statement from Fr. Fessio that’s caused a bit of a stir:
Benedict and Schoenborn have said several times over the past year that intelligence in the form of God’s will played a part in creation and that neo-Darwinists who deny God any role are drawing an ideological conclusion not proven by the theory.
They say they use philosophical reasoning to conclude that God created the world, not arguments which intelligent design supporters claim can be proven scientifically.
"There’s a controversy in the United States because there is a lack of awareness of a thing called philosophy," said Fessio, whose Ignatius Press publishes Benedict’s books in English.
"Evangelicals and creationists generally lack it and Catholics have it," he said.
"When you look at the world and see what appears to be order and design, the conclusion that there is a designer is not a scientific conclusion, it’s a philosophical one."
Read Previous Post