MESSAGE TO PARTICIPANTS IN VATICAN OBSERVATORY SCHOOL

VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from Pope John Paul to the participants in the Eighth Vatican Observatory School of Astrophysics, currently underway at the Vatican Observatory in Castelgandolfo. He also greeted a number of benefactors of the observatory who are present at the meetings.

The Pope recalls the purpose of these schools "has been to contribute to progress in developing countries by introducing some of their most talented young people to the best current scientific practice and theory in this area." He notes that this year "you have been studying the final state of stars as they come to exhaust their normal sources of energy. This leads to an examination of some of the most fundamental characteristics of the universe, and inevitably directs our thoughts to our own destiny within that universe. The desire to understand creation and our own place within it according to the strict canons of science is one of the noblest of human aspirations."

"Your astrophysical research," the Holy Father affirms, "is not a luxury remote from the daily concerns of people and irrelevant to the building of a more human world. What you do as scientists is important for all of us, especially when your empirically grounded vision of reality leads to an understanding of the human person as an integral element in the created universe."

In closing, he refers to the fields of science, art, philosophy and theology and tells the students, "Your scientific research will be most creative and beneficial to society when it helps to unify the knowledge deriving from these different sources and leads to a fruitful dialogue with those working in other fields of learning."

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