Scientific Theory and Catholic Doctrine

Similarly, the Holy Father has repeatedly expressed the desire that the cultured classes be given clear evidence of the limitless, erroneous complications of so-called modern science, and of the harmony between the Church's doctrine and the incontestable data of the natural sciences. Dr. Zahm's lectures corresponded to this desire. It is simply silly to maintain that such questions are the exclusive prerogative of the secret circles of specialists and savants, since they are day after day brought before the general public by all manner of press products, newspapers, monthlies, books, and brochures, and are reasoned about by the masses. These very circumstances evince the manifest need of elucidating as much as possible, to at least the more or less educated circles, the religious and social significance of such scientific themes, and their relation to Christian belief.