Pope Leo: Scientific progress and faith are not rivals

In his Sept. 23 Wednesday audience, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the relationship between faith and human progress, emphasizing that scientific advancement and faith are not in opposition, and continued his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes, focusing on the place of human work in God’s plan.

Pope Leo framed the reflection around a central question: “What is the value of human activity in the world, and therefore of technical, social and scientific progress?”

“Created in the image and likeness of God, the human being is the agent of progress,” Pope Leo said. “With freedom and intelligence, he increases his knowledge, thereby advancing society as a whole. We can easily see this by considering the improvements in living conditions over successive generations. Indeed, the Document states, ‘many benefits once looked for, especially from heavenly powers, man has now enterprisingly procured for himself.’”

Yet those advances, Pope Leo said, have also contributed to a view of progress that places faith and human achievement at odds.

“In post-Christian humanisms, the human being and God are mistakenly presented as rivals: in order to assert his knowledge, his freedom and his progress, man would have to emancipate himself from God,” he said. “Ultimately, however, by denying the relationship with God, one also loses the possibility of affirming the transcendent value of the human person. This is the ‘tragedy of atheistic humanism’, well described by a leading theologian of the Second Vatican Council, Henri de Lubac.”

Gaudium et Spes, the Holy Father said, places human work within the Lord’s creative plan.

“Christians,” he said, quoting the council document, “can justly consider that by their labour they are unfolding the Creator’s work, consulting the advantages of their brother men, and are contributing by their personal industry to the realization in history of the divine plan.”

Pope Leo traced that relationship between God and human activity to the Incarnation.

“Here there is an important reference to the mystery of the Incarnation,” Pope Leo said. “Humanity – and with it work, progress and the autonomy of created realities – is not absorbed or nullified by the encounter with God, but rather taken up in its entirety, continuing to be, in Christ, free and active: indeed, it is in Him that it finds full truth and freedom.”

He also pointed to the Eucharist, in which the “fruit of human labor, represented by bread and wine, is placed upon the altar every day to be transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.”

Pope Leo said the Church’s view of human work also speaks to the Christian vocation.

“From this perspective, an important truth emerges: to encounter God, the human being must not abandon his earthly occupations, but can live his vocation fully, carrying out his daily work well and sanctifying it,” he said.

That responsibility also places a moral demand on scientific and technical advancement.

“In order to become authentic human progress – that is, progress for the whole person and for all people – technical and scientific progress must be inspired and guided by charity,” Pope Leo said. “Only in this way can it always be placed in the service of human dignity and promote the living conditions of all, especially the most disadvantaged.”

The Holy Father concluded by looking toward what that vision of progress can build: “Dear brothers and sisters, the Second Vatican Council invites us to share the bread of knowledge and know-how, so that every person and every people may develop their potential, and together, with God’s help, we may build a better future.”