VATICAN CITY, FEB 28,2000 (ZENIT).- The Scientists' Jubilee, which will be

  held from May 23-25, is a novelty in the history of Jubilees and

  coincides with the impetus John Paul II gave to the dialogue between

  faith and science with the publication of his last encyclical "Fides et

  Ratio." One of the most awaited moments of this celebration will be the

  penitential act in which scientists will ask for forgiveness for abuses

  of the past. The Church will also make an examination of conscience for

  those occasions in which her children violated science's legitimate

  autonomy.

  When presenting the program of the Scientists' Jubilee in the Vatican

  Press Office this morning, Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the

  Pontifical Council for Culture, explained that "in the distant year

  1300, the first Jubilee in history, the very concept of 'dialogue

  science-faith' would have been regarded as something strange, both by

  Albert the Great as well as Maimonides, as would also have been the case

  with Galileo, Kepler, Tycho Brahe and even Newton. For these eminent

  scientists and believers in God, Creator of the universe, the harmony

  between these two forms of knowledge was something natural."

  "This harmony between science and faith was broken at a time that

  corresponds more or less with the beginning of the Enlightenment,"

  Cardinal Poupard said.

  The French Cardinal stated that at present the scientific world is

  experiencing "an inversion of tendency as regards religion." "The

  hostile attitude of positive scientism seems to have been overcome.

  There is a need to respond to the great ethical problems that the life

  sciences pose, as well as to find answers to the fundamental questions

  of metaphysics, that science is unable to give. For its part, religion

  can purify science of the idolatry of scientism."

  Cardinal Poupard emphasized that "Science needs to recover its wisdom

  dimension, as John Paul II frequently states, that is, a science allied

  with conscience so that the trinomial science-technology-conscience is

  at the service of the real good of man, of every man and all men."

  Fr. Bernard Ardura, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture,

  added that "from the first moment there has been a desire to avoid a

  restrictive interpretation of the concept 'scientific,' frequently

  identified with those dedicated to experimental sciences. By science is

  understood every rational and methodical exercise of man's intellectual

  activity in search of truth. Therefore, the Jubilee is also directed to

  those working in the field of sociology, economics, etc., without

  neglecting theology and philosophy, long considered the science par

  excellence."

  One of the topics stirring most interest in the preparation of the

  Scientists' Jubilee is the penitential act that will take place on May

  24. On one hand, it will be a kind of "mea culpa" pronounced by leaders

  of the scientific world who, according to Fr. Ardura, will acknowledge

  "the lack of professional honesty, illicit copying, anxiety for

  performance, attribution to self of others' merits, and indifference to

  the dignity of the person."

  On the other hand, and in line with John Paul II's hope for this

  Jubilee, it will also be an act "of courage and humility in recognition

  of faults committed by those who have called themselves Christians, who

  understood sufficiently the legitimate autonomy of science."

  As regards the celebrations, it is estimated that some 5,000 people will

  attend the Scientists' Jubilee. May 25 will be the day in which the men

  and women of science will solemnly cross the threshold of the Holy Door.

  Among them will be Professor Nicola Cabibbo, who since 1993 has presided

  over the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, to which some of the major

  scientists of the world belong. Several of them have received the Nobel

  Prize in their field, including Gobind Khorana Har of MIT (1968); Rita

  Levi Montalcini, Professor of Neurosurgery (1986); George Emil Palade,

  Professor of Cellular Biology of the University of California (1974);

  George Porter, Professor of Chemistry, Imperial College, London (1967);

  Carlo Rubbia, director of CERN in Geneva (1984); and Charles Townes,

  Professor Emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley (1964).

  "To see so many scientists from many countries and all scientific

  disciplines gathered in Rome around St. Peter's tomb will be the best

  testimony of the compatibility between science and faith," Cardinal

  Poupard said.

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