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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JUNE 23, 1956.
Catholic School, Press Both Face
Special Problems And Obligations
Presented By A Technological Age
(By Charles J. McNeill, Preside it. Catholic Press Association)
Both Catholic education and Catholic journalism face special problems and have spe
cial responsibilities in this technological ag3. In our day, man—using the marvelous in
tellectual powers with which he was endowei by God—has pushed to limits never before
contemplated in his knowledge of the wonders with which God filled the world. Mathe
matical knowledge and scientific skill have nov made it possible for man in a moment to
destroy the structure of civilization it has taken centuries to build.
In an address to members of achieved — at least for them- of mankind, but also with the
the Pontifical Academy of Sci
ences, Pope Pius XII reviewed
in detail last year the truly
amazing progress made by the
natural sciences in the last 150
years. Scientific advances, he
said, have brought man face to
face with such fundamental
things as the very problem of
life itself.
TWO QUESTIONS POSED
These same advances, bewild
ering tc most men, have creat
ed widespread confusion and an
guish and have posed two great
questions:
1. Can experimental science
alone solve the problems con
nected with the intimate struc
ture of material beings and
their action?
2. Can science produce that
coherent and unified synthesis
of truth which man, by his
very nature, strives to achieve?
The Holy Father’s answer to
both questions is “No.” The
light of philosophy must illu
mine the mind that seeks the
ultimate answers; and philo
sophy alone can produce a uni
versal synthesis of human
knowledge. The Holy Father de
plored the separation, for some
time past, of science and phi
losophy. He called on scientists
to strive “for coherence and to
seek inspiration from sound
philosophy,” and at the same
time urged philsophers never
to “attempt to define truths
which are drawn solely from ob
servation or experiment, and
from the use of scientific meth
ods.”
SCIENCE NEVER REACHES
ULTIMATES
Shortly before the Holy Fath
er’s address to the Pontifical
Academy of Sciences, another
distinguished thinker, Thomas
E. Murray; of the United States
Atomic Energy Commission, had
said that 'recent scientific dis
coveries are “shaking the philo
sophic foundations of material
ism” and that “the time'is ripen
ing for a marriage of religion
and science.” “Science,” said Mr.
Murray, “can give man mastery
only over matter. It never
reaches ultimates.” Those ul-
timates can be attained only
through philosophy and religion.
Arid even at the furthest reach
of man toward the ultimate, his
intellect will find the ineffable
mysteries of religion which must
be accepted by faith on the tes
timony of God.
If the reunion of science and
philosophy—if the “marriage of
religion and science”^-is to come
about in our time, it must be
meticulously arranged by men
who are rare indeed in this age
of specialization. This wedding
cannot be brought off by the
technologist alone, or by the
scientist alone, or by the philo
sopher alone, or even by the
theologian alone. It must be ap
proached through the good of- j
fices of those modern men who
are in our time most like the
all-embracing geniuses of the
late Middle Ages and the
Renascence; by men who have
selves—a true synthesis of sci
ence and philosophy.
To produce this kind of man.
Catholic education must do
more than train students in
the fundamental skills of
learning and in the age-old
doctrinal and moral teachings
of the Church. It must give
ever more attention to the
pure and the physical sciences.
It must form minds that see
both philosophy and science in
their proper light and relate
them to theological truth. The
aim will be to produce a Chris
tian mind able to cope, not on
ly with the age-old problems
special and specific problems
of this scientific age—and a
Christian mood of both faith
and courage.
SOMETHING THAT COMES
FROM GOD
Catholic educators, aware of
the desperate need for this kind
of man, are striving mightily to
expand and to improve the
training of skillful scientists who
are also completely Christian
men.
As Commissioner Murray told
the Catholic Press Association
last year, the Christian cannot
face the complex modern world
in a mood of guilt, fear, futility,
or fatalism. Rather the Christian
must, as Pius XII has many
times said, look on the fantastic
technological progress of our
time as something that comes
from God and should lead back
to God. Thus he can face the
present and the future in a mood
of clearheaded Christian cour
age.
Men today must face the fact
of their creation by and depen
dence on God, must work to
gether for social justice and in
ternational peace. Their under
lying motives must be love of
God and love of all mankind be
cause of God. They must have a
compelling desire for, and a
willingness to work for, the
flowering of justice and charity
among all men and all nations.
CHRISTIAN SOCIAL
PRINCIPLES
These, then, are the attitudes
that Catholic schools seek to in
still in modern-day children and
young people. Thousands of
American Catholic elementary
schools integrate their course of
studies around the curriculum
“Guiding Growth in Christian
Social Living,” prepared by the
Commission on American Citi
zenship at the Catholic Universi
ty of America in Washington.
Running throughout this cur
riculum are these basic ideas es
sential to the making of the
Christian mind in modern times:
1. The dependence of man
upon God.
2. The individual dignify of
every human person.
3. The social nature of man.
4. The sacredness and integri
ty of the family.
5. The dignity of the worker
and his work.
6. The material and spiritu
al interdependence of all men.
7. The obligation of all men
to use the resources of the
earth according to God's plan.
8. The obligation of men to
share non-material goods with
one another.
9. The obligations of justice
and charity that exist among
peoples and nations.
10. The unity of all men.
These Christian social prin
ciples are repeatedly explained
to Catholic boys and girls of
grade-school age in classroom
work. They inform the content
of the course of studies in thou
sands of parish grade schools.
Through such media as the
Catholic Civics Clubs of Amer
ica, the same children are given
an opportunity to apply these
principles to current affairs and
important community problems.
ROLE OF THE CATHOLIC
PRESS
The Catholic Press seeks to
build on the foundation of right
doctrine, good attitudes, and
healthy habits formed in Cath
olic schools. The Catholic edi-
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