Pope on Science: Must Be at Service of Man

A civilization’s progress is measured by its ability to protect life, says Pope Francis, not by its technological advances.

 

Speaking to participants in a meeting organized by the Science and Life Association on Saturday, the Holy Father underscored, “The degree of progress of a civilization is measured by its ability to protect life, especially in its most fragile stages, rather than by the spread of technological means.”

 

The Association for Science and Life is an Italian volunteer association dedicated to protecting life and human rights, and promoting science at the service of man. It is marking its 10-year anniversary.

 

Their efforts, Francis said, “represent a critical task, especially in a society marked by the negative logic of discarding.»

 

After praising their efforts to sustain life, the Argentine Pontiff reminded them that to protect the person, two actions are essential: going out to meet and meeting to give support.

“The love of Christ urges us (cfr 2 Cor. 5,14) to become servants of the small ones and the elderly, of every man and every woman, through which the primordial right to life is recognized and protected,” he said. “The existence of the human person, to which you dedicate your care is also your constitutive principle, it is life in its unfathomable depth that originates and accompanies the whole scientific path; it is the miracle of life that undermines any form of scientific presumption, restoring primacy to wonder and beauty.»

«Christ,» Francis highlighted, “illuminates the path so that science may always be a service of life.”

He encouraged them to stay focused on the fact that every human person is sacred, «so that science may truly be at the service of man, and not man at the service of science.”

The Pontiff undercored to those present that attacks on the sacredness of life — in all their various manifestations — must not be forgotten.

“The scourge of abortion is an attack on life. Leaving our brothers on the boats in the Sicilian channel is an attack on life. Death in the workplace because the minimal security conditions are not respected, is an attack on life. Death by malnutrition is an attack on life. Terrorism, war, violence and also euthanasia are an attack on life.”

Before concluding with a blessing and asking for prayers, Pope Francis encouraged the participants to re-launch a renewed culture of life, and to not be afraid “to embark on a fruitful dialogue with the whole world of science, even with those who, while not professing themselves as believers, remain open to the mystery of human life.”

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On the NET:

Association for Science and Life (in Italian): http://www.scienzaevita.org/

On ZENIT’s Web page:

Full Text: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-address-to-the-science-and-life-association