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| UDIENZA AI
PARTECIPANTI ALL’INCONTRO PROMOSSO DALLA PONTIFICIA ACCADEMIA
DELLE SCIENZE, 10.11.2003 |
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Alle 11.30 di questa mattina, nella
Sala Clementina del Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano, il Santo Padre
Giovanni Paolo II ha ricevuto in Udienza i partecipanti all’Incontro
promosso dalla Pontificia Accademia delle Scienze ed ha loro rivolto
il discorso che pubblichiamo di seguito:
DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE
Dear Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences,
I am especially pleased to greet you today as we celebrate the Four
Hundredth Anniversary of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. I thank
the President of the Academy, Professor Nicola Cabibbo, for the
kind sentiments expressed on your behalf and I acknowledge with
gratitude the thoughtful gesture with which you have wished to commemorate
the Silver Jubilee of my Pontificate.
The Accademia dei Lincei was founded in Rome in 1603 by Federico
Cesi with the encouragement of Pope Clement VIII. In 1847 it was
restored by Pius IX and in 1936 re-established by Pius XI. Its history
is linked to that of many other Scientific Academies throughout
the world. I am happy to welcome the Presidents and representatives
of these institutions who have so kindly joined us today, especially
the President of the Accademia dei Lincei.
I recall with gratitude the many meetings we have had over the past
twenty-five years. They have been opportunities for me to express
my great esteem for those who work in the various scientific fields.
I have carefully listened to you, shared your concerns, and considered
your suggestions. In encouraging your work I have emphasized the
spiritual dimension always present in the search for truth. I have
also affirmed that scientific research must be directed towards
the common good of society and the integral development of its individual
members.
Our gatherings have also enabled me to clarify important aspects
of the Church’s doctrine and life relating to scientific research.
We are united in our common desire to correct misunderstandings
and even more to allow ourselves to be enlightened by the one Truth
which governs the world and guides the lives of all men and women.
I am more and more convinced that scientific truth, which is itself
a participation in divine Truth, can help philosophy and theology
to understand ever more fully the human person and God’s Revelation
about man, a Revelation that is completed and perfected in Jesus
Christ. For this important mutual enrichment in the search for the
truth and the benefit of mankind, I am, with the whole Church, profoundly
grateful.
The two topics which you have chosen for your meeting concern the
life sciences, and in particular the very nature of human life.
The first, Mind, Brain and Education, draws our attention to the
complexity of human life and its pre-eminence over other forms of
life. Neuroscience and neurophysiology, through the study of chemical
and biological processes in the brain, contribute greatly to an
understanding of its workings. But the study of the human mind involves
more than the observable data proper to the neurological sciences.
Knowledge of the human person is not derived from the level of observation
and scientific analysis alone but also from the interconnection
between empirical study and reflective understanding.
Scientists themselves perceive in the study of the human mind the
mystery of a spiritual dimension which transcends cerebral physiology
and appears to direct all our activities as free and autonomous
beings, capable of responsibility and love, and marked with dignity.
This is seen by the fact that you have decided to expand your research
to include aspects of learning and education, which are specifically
human activities. Thus your considerations focus not just on the
biological life common to all living creatures but also include
the interpretive and evaluative work of the human mind.
Scientists today often recognize the need to maintain a distinction
between the mind and the brain, or between the person acting with
free will and the biological factors which sustain his intellect
and capacity to learn. In this distinction, which need not be a
separation, we can see the foundation of that spiritual dimension
proper to the human person which biblical Revelation explains as
a special relationship with God the Creator (cf. Gen 2:7) in whose
image and likeness every man and woman is made (cf. Gen 1:26-27).
The second topic of your meeting concerns Stem Cell Technology and
Other Innovative Therapies. Research in this field has understandably
grown in importance in recent years because of the hope it offers
for the cure of ills affecting many people. I have on other occasions
stated that stem cells for purposes of experimentation or treatment
cannot come from human embryo tissue. I have instead encouraged
research on adult human tissue or tissue superfluous to normal fetal
development. Any treatment which claims to save human lives, yet
is based upon the destruction of human life in its embryonic state,
is logically and morally contradictory, as is any production of
human embryos for the direct or indirect purpose of experimentation
or eventual destruction.
Distinguished friends, reiterating my thanks for your valued assistance
I invoke upon you and your families God’s abundant blessing.
May your scientific work bear abundant fruit and may the activities
of Pontifical Academy of Sciences continue to promote knowledge
of the truth and contribute to the development of all peoples. |
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