Science, religion expressions of human thirst for knowing world: Fr Richard D’Souza

HT spoke at length with Fr Richard via an email interview about his appointment, his responsibilities and how faith and science can go hand in hand

In August, Pope Leo XIV appointed Goa-born Jesuit priest Fr Richard D’Souza to head the Vatican Observatory, one of the world’s oldest astronomical observatories with a storied history making him one of the few from outside of Europe and North America to hold a leading position within the church. HT spoke at length with Fr Richard via an email interview about his appointment, his responsibilities and how faith and science can go hand in hand. Edited excerpts.

D’Souza, 47, a Jesuit priest who hails from Goa and who holds a doctorate in astronomy. (Vatican Observatory | Official photo)

Your appointment as the Director of the Vatican Observatory, means that for the first time, many people in India will be hearing that there is something known as the Vatican Observatory and that there are Religious Priests involved in studying the stars. With that in mind, how do you see your role in leading this historical organisation?

As Director, my main responsibility lies in leading and guiding the Jesuit scholars who work at the Vatican Observatory in their research and their public outreach. The world of astronomy is fast changing with the advent of large telescopes and surveys (on earth and in space) – where many countries come together to sponsor an experiment. Most of the next generation of astronomical discoveries will be made by these new large telescopes – leaving the smaller telescopes behind. To continue to keep the Vatican Observatory competitive for years to come, the Jesuits need to enter these large collaborations and have access to the data generated from these new advanced astronomical experiments.

What does the Vatican Observatory actually do?

The main goal of the Vatican observatory is to demonstrate through its scientific work that faith and science can go together and that the Catholic Church supports the sciences. We do this in four ways: A) Through our scientific research: we observe the heavenly objects with various telescopes, we analyse data, we publish our data in scientific publications, and we participate in scientific meeting where we talk about research work. B) We help researchers from developing countries: we organise a month-long summer school where we bring in young researchers from all over the world, but especially from developing countries, and connect them with top-notch researchers. We also sponsor scholarships for young researchers to give them a head start in their doctorate in astronomy. C) We organise a lot of scientific meetings and congresses here in Castel Gandolfo – welcoming astronomers and scientists to the Vatican Observatory. D) Finally, we also do a lot of faith-science dialogue as well as outreach to the public. Some of these include various church groups – who would like to understand how faith and science can go together.

How do you see faith and science going hand in hand?

In my philosophical studies, I could also deeply reflect on how faith and science can go together – especially by considering the philosophical underpinnings of both science and religion.

In my view, both faith and science are very complimentary aspects of human life. They are very different from each other, and yet, they are both expressions of the human thirst for understanding the world around them.

There are many aspects of our human life which can only be understood by religion or spirituality. The physical world is best understood by the sciences. Neither of them has the monopoly of human knowledge. The more I study and understand the Universe, the more I begin to appreciate the creator and continue to glorify God for all his marvellous works.

You have accomplished a great deal especially with regards to work on the mergers of galaxies. What area of research are you currently occupied with?

I continue my work on understanding the past mergers of galaxies. Now, I am fascinated with the dwarf satellites galaxies present in the Milky Way galaxy as well other galaxies of similar size. I keep wondering how these dwarf satellites got there over time since the big bang, and what they can tell us about the merger story of these large Milky Way galaxies.

The Church, and more broadly religious practices and religious figures are popularly seen as being ”anti-science”, as the “science face of the church”, what do you see is your and the observatory’s role in combating this?

The observatory fulfills its mission by making people aware of how involved the Church has been and continues to be in the sciences. We need to make people aware of the many scientific discoveries done by Catholic priests. For example, very few people realize that the concept of the Big Bang was invented by a Belgian Catholic priest named George Lemaitre who worked along with Einstein to use his equations of General Relativity and apply them to the Universe. A lot of education and outreach is needed. My hope is that our contact with the traditional and social media can help the Observatory fulfil its goals.

Do you believe the church needs to engage more deeply and effectively with emerging fields of science like climate research, medical science and artificial intelligence (AI)?

I think so. First, the church needs to understand these new emerging sciences so that it can engage with them better but also be able to critique them. The Church is already heavily involved in the medical sciences through the numerous hospitals and Universities that it directly or indirectly owns. The Church is also heavily invested in climate research – after Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si. We ourselves at the Observatory recently hired a Jesuit meteorologist who is working in climate sciences. There are also numerous Catholic universities and institutes trying to understand the rapid progress in AI – and contributing to the debate of improving the algorithms making them less prone to biases.

The Church in India and more broadly that of the third world has historically held a marginal role when it comes to holding positions of leadership in the church. That is of course changing and your role is testament to that. How do you see India’s role in assuming greater responsibility in the global church?

As the Catholic population of the West declines, the Church in India and the third world must take a greater role in leadership, and this is already happening. Too often, our formation of young priests and nuns in India has focussed exclusively on the Indian context – forgetting the global and missionary dimension of the Catholic Church. We need to help the next generation of Church leaders work on the international stage. We already have a great advantage with the English language, but learning foreign languages is a big help. Personally, I think the future is bright for the Church of India on the global stage.

What will your focus as director in taking forward the mission of the Observatory? Do you see the observatory expanding its mandate to go beyond the study of astronomy and to other fields?

My focus will be on ensuring that the observatory continues to produce good science. My second big priority is the recruitment of young Jesuit astronomers and scientists for the observatory. We already have a meteorologist and a geologist on our staff. In the past, we also had mathematicians and computer experts. As the only scientific institution of the Holy See, we need to represent the Church in all the sciences. Due to tradition, we are historically tied to astronomy. Yes, we are very open to expanding beyond astronomy to other fields as our resources permit us.

And finally, do you hope that your work and achievements will inspire others to take up the study of science and involve themselves in frontier science?

Yes, I do hope so. I have long been encouraging the Indian Jesuits to focus on research in the physical sciences. There are already many young Indians at the frontiers of science – including astronomy. Unfortunately, in India we have separated research from education, but they need to go together. My hope is that many young Indian students get a taste of doing some research during their college education. This is a must for training the next generation of Indian scientists.