On November 24, a letter was given to Pope Francis asking him to consider the possibility of removing the Monitum on the works of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The proposal was born in the particular context of the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture, during the works on “the Future of Humanity. New challenges to anthropology”. The suggestion, advanced by Piero Benvenuti, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Padua, was welcomed by the participants to the Plenary Assembly. Plenary members were working on an ever-growing and fruitful dialogue between scientists, humanists and theologians to found a new anthropology with a broader interdisciplinary perspective.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is certainly not a new figure for the Pope, who quoted him in a note of the Encyclical Laudato si (cf. No. 83), grasping his positive contribution to a cosmic breathing crystocentrism. Known for the high apologetic value of his work, especially in the scientific sphere, considered by many as a pioneer in the analysis of biological evolution in the light of faith, Teilhard received disciplinary measures by the Jesuit Congregation in the 1920s and a Monitum by the Congregation of the Holy Office in 1962.
On November 18, during the audience given to the participants at the Plenary Assembly, the Pope called for a greater dialogue between the Church, the community of believers, and the scientific community. The promoters of the letter think that removing the Monitum would be a sign of the ever-stronger intention of the Catholic Church to foster a positive dialogue between science and faith, in tune with the words of Pope Francis.
The text of the official letter delivered to Pope Francis.
The inters website proposes a number of excerpts from the works of Theilard de Chardin. Read for example the text Science and Christ (1921)
