Surprise from a Catholic scientist
Vivian Macallin
Kudos to Angelus and Mike Aquilina for the essay on Nicholas Steno that ran in the March 6 Angelus.
In elementary school, high school, and college, I received varying but pretty consistent versions of the legend of Galileo Galilei: how the Catholic Church’s opposition to science and truth tried to suppress people like him, and tried to drag the world back into the Dark Ages.
Stories like Steno’s challenge that narrative. He was a scientist who put everything in God’s hands … including his own achievements and intellect. And then amazing things happened, for which we should still be grateful today. The Church’s commitment to science and reason made so many of his achievements possible.
I also really appreciated the part about Steno’s conversion from Lutheranism, and his background in mathematics.
— Vivian Macalline, Los Angeles