August 22, 2006

Pope Replaces Astronomer Who Is Strong Defender of Evolution

Pope Benedict XVI has replaced the director of the Vatican Observatory, who has been a vigorous critic of “intelligent design,” the controversial notion, known as ID, that says life is too complex to have evolved without the intervention of an intelligent agent. According to the Religion News Service, it was not clear whether the Rev. George Coyne, who is 73 and had been director of the observatory since 1978, was being ousted for his views on ID or his vocal support for the theory of evolution. The new director, the Vatican announced on Saturday, is the Rev. José Gabriel Funes, who is 43 and holds a doctorate in astronomy.

Comments

1. “ACCORDING TO the Religion News Service, it was not clear whether the Rev. George Coyne, who is 73 and had been director of the observatory since 1978, was being ousted for his views on ID or his vocal support for the theory of evolution.”
   This is NOT what the linked article says!
   Why are you indicating that he was removed for (at least) one of these two reasons?
   If that was not your intention then you simply do not know the reason for his ‘removal’ and it would have been more honest to state that.
   I assume then you have some other reason for treating the subject the way you did.

   — David    Aug 22, 09:51 AM    #

2. I’m a bit startled by the superficiality of this reporting. A simple Google search will lead to the CV of Rev. José Gabriel Funes’ CV, which shows that he is also supporter of the theory of evolution. See
   http://kino.as.arizona.edu/~jfunes/jfunes_CV.htm

   — Carl Kinbar    Aug 22, 11:26 AM    #

3. Carl: The linked vita shows that Funes has worked in the field of stellar evolution – it says nothing at all about his attitude regarding biological evolution.

   — bob    Aug 22, 01:01 PM    #

4. It is quite a coincidence that a week or so ago this article which dismantled Fr. Coyne’s philosophy was published in the British journal “Christian Order:”
   http://members.aol.com/fmrega7/evolution.htm

   — Frank Rega    Aug 22, 02:28 PM    #

5. Could it be possible that he is being replaced simply be cause he is 73?

   — Victor Irby    Aug 23, 09:52 AM    #

6. I believe that Fr. Coyne may be ill, and the speculation about his removal related to his views on evolution, which coincide with those of the vatican, is likely to be unwarranted.

   — Lawrence Krauss    Aug 23, 12:40 PM    #

7. I had the pleasure of hearing Fr. Coyne speak Aug. 18, 2006 in Greer Az. It was the first time in many years that I had hope that there was a voice of reason associated with
   this devisive issue. He stated that he was going to be going on a sabtical soon. I hope that is the reason for this news article and that he will remain active in disseminating his ideas on star birth, ID and evolution. His lecture “Dance of the Fertile Universe” was appreciated by both academics and those with opposing views in the audiance

   — Sandee Freeman    Aug 23, 02:28 PM    #

8. As a long-standing member of the Board of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, and even longer-term friend of Fr. Coyne, I can assure readers that the appointment of his successor, Fr. Funes, is part of normal succession planning which the Board has been discussing for several years. After a well-deserved sabbatical, Fr.Coyne will continue his association with the Observatory and the Foundation, assisting the Board and Fr. Funes.

   — Charles Currie, S.J.    Aug 23, 03:23 PM    #

9. What a minute—I thought Intelligent Design had nothing to do with God or Religion?

   ‘Darwin Would Put God Out of Business’
   By David Klinghoffer

   ...The key point is whether, across hundreds of millions of years, the development of life was guided or not. On one side of this chasm between worldviews are Darwinists, whose belief system asserts that life, through a material mechanism, in effect designed itself. On the other side are theories like intelligent design (ID) which argue that no such purely material mechanism could write the software in the cell, called DNA.

   ID supporters find positive evidence of a designer’s hand at work in life’s history. The Discovery Institute, where I’m a senior fellow, has compiled a list of more than 600 Darwin-doubting doctoral scientists representing institutions like Stanford, Yale, and MIT. The bibliography of Darwin-doubting works in peer-reviewed and peer-edited scientific publications continues to grow.

   To put it starkly, Darwinism would put God out of business. God’s authority to command our behavior is based on His having created us. By this, I don’t mean that He formed the first person from clay less than six thousand years ago, but that His guidance was necessary to produce the chief glory of the world, life. If the process that produced existence and then life was not guided, then God is not our creator.

   http://www.beliefnet.com/story/198/story_19844_1.html

   — Rhampton    Aug 23, 10:04 PM    #

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