Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit Brother, who in 2015 was appointed by Pope Francis to be the Director of the Vatican Observatory. Having earned his PhD in Planetary Science at the University of Arizona in 1978, Guy entered the Society of Jesus in 1991. He has worked at the Vatican Observatory since 1993.
Brother Guy visited Gidea Park parish on 10th June 2017, and the large number of people attending meant that the event had to be held in the church. He spoke of his own experience on arrival at the Vatican Observatory. He was simply told to ‘do good science’. He explained that ‘doing science’ is an act of worship which we do for the joy which is the love of God. Faith and science teach each other. Faith teaches science not to consider itself absolute. Science teaches faith not to fall into superstition.
Brother Guy responded to an avalanche of questions relating to the theme of ‘God and the Cosmos’. He stressed that Genesis is a book about God, not a book about creation. Our goal as people of faith should not be to come up with all the answers but to understand the questions people ask. ‘God is not a problem to be solved but a relationship to enjoy’.
The judges who awarded Brother Guy the Carl Sagan Medal in 2014 described him as "the voice of the juxtaposition of planetary science and astronomy with Christian belief, a rational spokesperson who can convey exceptionally well how religion and science co-exist for believers."
The day was filmed and is available in several youtube presentations.
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