Approximately 1250 senior students from Catholic schools all across Auckland (plus Pompallier College from Whangarei) were lucky enough to attend a very informative lecture presented by the “The Pope’s Astronomer”, Brother Guy J. Consolmagno.
Br Guy is an American research astronomer, Jesuit brother and the Director of the Vatican Observatory which is located in Italy. Sancta Maria College was fortunate enough to host such a very special lecture, as it gave all the students the opportunity to learn something new about Christianity and Science.
The lecture covered the topic of how Christianity and Science are both a search for the truth, and that they fit together because truth cannot contradict truth. He talked about how the glory of God can be seen through the beauty and intricacy of creation. He also pointed out that the Bible was a true record of the simple understanding of the universe that they had in the ancient world, and that it wasn’t meant to be a science textbook, but that it reveals the fact that the world was created to be ordered and understandable, that the Creator and Creation are separate, and that the vastness of the universe should make us understand how humble God is to decide to become a human and to love us in the person of Christ.
We would like to thank the teacherswho helped plan and make this event possible, the prefects who helped with getting the visitors from other schools organized and of course Br Guy for taking the time in his busy schedule to talk to senior students from across Auckland.
Overall, it was an almost surreal experience for the Year 13s to have someone all the way from the Vatican to talk to them about the importance of their faith as well as the importance of science to Christianity.
Faith Cruz
