Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno gave an interview RPCV Kenya in 2006 in which he stated “Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism - it’s turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do.” His interview was picked up by the newspaper the Scotsman which has since been pulled form online publication. You can read the Peace Corps report excerpt on the story here.
Brother Consolmagno since working through the Vatican observatory in Arizona has been witness to the religious climate in America where some groups are trying to force Creationism over evolution in public schools. Since his 2006 interview he has traveled the world informing people that taking the Bible literally is not what religion is about.
In an interview this year at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco for ForaTV he stated that the Bible was not meant to be taken literally. The Book of Genesis he says should be taken more in the way that the Iliad was taken, as a poem of metaphor and similes. His comments on literalism stemmed from doing a Bible study with astronauts in Texas. One of the students came to him saying that he takes the Book of Genesis literally to which Consolmagno’s response was “Have you actually read Genesis?”
When interviewed for Astrobiology Magazine on why the Vatican funds his work he says that “There’s a political reason. It’s a simple one, that they want the world to know that the Church isn’t afraid of science, that they like science, that science is great, this is our way of seeing how God created the universe, and they want to make as strong a statement as possible that truth doesn’t contradict truth, that if you have faith, then you’re not going to ever be afraid of what science is going to come up with. Because it’s true.”
What Brother Consolmagno sees as the problem in today’s culture of keeping science and religion separate is as he states “The religious fundamentalists, basically, are scared that they don’t have faith, which is why they cling so tightly to what little they’ve got. The science fundamentalists, I think some of them just want to be taken seriously as scientists and they think, well I have to show that I’ve rejected anything else.”
What strikes me as the most interesting about Brother Consolmagno is that though he is a religious man he is an active scientist who believes that it is our species job to explore the universe. He also believes that there is more intelligent life out there yet to be discovered. And most importantly he does not see Catholicism as the one true religion, he see all religions as valid.