53
In 1891, by the motu proprio Ut mysticam, Pope Leo XIII officially established
a new Vatican Observatory located in the Tower of the Winds in the Vatican Gardens,
where the Barnabite Fr. Francesco Denza (1834–1894) installed various instruments (Chinnici 2018). Today the Vatican Observatory headquarters is at Albano
Laziale, after being at Castel Gandolfo.
3.4 The Intellectual Context of Nineteenth Century
for Science and Religion
Like other priest-scientists who worked during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Angelo Secchi did not work out a systematic relationship between science and
faith. However, his epistemological and philosophical views can be deduced from
the considerations he presented in the last pages of some of his works, in particular
in the concluding chapters of L’unità delle forze fisiche, Saggio di filosofia naturale
(1864) and of the book Le stelle, Saggio di astronomia siderale (1877). The appendix of the posthumously published edition of Lezioni di Fisica terrestre (1879) contains the texts of two popular lectures presented in 1876 and 1877 at the Accademia
Tiberina, which deal with some interdisciplinary issues. References to the Christian
faith are present in other unpublished talks and, above all, in his letters. Due to the
fragmented nature of the material available, a complete reconstruction of his thinking on the subject has so far been difficult. However, the existing material is sufficient to have an idea of his thought.
It is helpful to associate Secchi with two other important contemporary Italian
priest-scientists, Antonio Stoppani and Francesco Faà di Bruno. Secchi shared with
the geologist Stoppani the conviction that a better knowledge of scientific thought
would benefit the education of the clergy and that a better approach to relevant biblical or dogmatic issues would be possible only through knowing in depth what science says and how it says it. Like the mathematician Faà di Bruno, Secchi too had a
vision of science as a service. They both saw science as a way for promoting humanity, and they thought that scientific popularization should be provided to all social
classes. All three authors agreed that scientific research should not be seen as an
obstacle to faith but rather as an adventure of knowledge, capable of fostering a
deeper understanding of theology and better biblical exegesis.
This same perspective had been adopted centuries earlier by Thomas Aquinas, in
the spirit of Medieval universities, as shown by his belief, presented in Summa contra gentiles, that a better knowledge of nature leads to a less imperfect knowledge
of God (Book II, nos. 2–4). Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, the idea that science could play a positive role in theological research remained
in the shadows. As a result of the hesitations shown in the transition from the geocentric to the heliocentric system, some clergymen mistakenly viewed the rapid
progress of science in contrast to the philosophical-religious framework prevailing
in their epoch.
3 Between Science and Religion: Angelo Secchi and his Time
In 1891, by the motu proprio Ut mysticam, Pope Leo XIII officially established
a new Vatican Observatory located in the Tower of the Winds in the Vatican Gardens,
where the Barnabite Fr. Francesco Denza (1834–1894) installed various instruments (Chinnici 2018). Today the Vatican Observatory headquarters is at Albano
Laziale, after being at Castel Gandolfo.
3.4 The Intellectual Context of Nineteenth Century
for Science and Religion
Like other priest-scientists who worked during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Angelo Secchi did not work out a systematic relationship between science and
faith. However, his epistemological and philosophical views can be deduced from
the considerations he presented in the last pages of some of his works, in particular
in the concluding chapters of L’unità delle forze fisiche, Saggio di filosofia naturale
(1864) and of the book Le stelle, Saggio di astronomia siderale (1877). The appendix of the posthumously published edition of Lezioni di Fisica terrestre (1879) contains the texts of two popular lectures presented in 1876 and 1877 at the Accademia
Tiberina, which deal with some interdisciplinary issues. References to the Christian
faith are present in other unpublished talks and, above all, in his letters. Due to the
fragmented nature of the material available, a complete reconstruction of his thinking on the subject has so far been difficult. However, the existing material is sufficient to have an idea of his thought.
It is helpful to associate Secchi with two other important contemporary Italian
priest-scientists, Antonio Stoppani and Francesco Faà di Bruno. Secchi shared with
the geologist Stoppani the conviction that a better knowledge of scientific thought
would benefit the education of the clergy and that a better approach to relevant biblical or dogmatic issues would be possible only through knowing in depth what science says and how it says it. Like the mathematician Faà di Bruno, Secchi too had a
vision of science as a service. They both saw science as a way for promoting humanity, and they thought that scientific popularization should be provided to all social
classes. All three authors agreed that scientific research should not be seen as an
obstacle to faith but rather as an adventure of knowledge, capable of fostering a
deeper understanding of theology and better biblical exegesis.
This same perspective had been adopted centuries earlier by Thomas Aquinas, in
the spirit of Medieval universities, as shown by his belief, presented in Summa contra gentiles, that a better knowledge of nature leads to a less imperfect knowledge
of God (Book II, nos. 2–4). Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, the idea that science could play a positive role in theological research remained
in the shadows. As a result of the hesitations shown in the transition from the geocentric to the heliocentric system, some clergymen mistakenly viewed the rapid
progress of science in contrast to the philosophical-religious framework prevailing
in their epoch.
3 Between Science and Religion: Angelo Secchi and his Time