Rob Lorenz, SJ, the outreach coordinator at the Vatican Observatory’s Arizona facility, spoke with middle schoolers at Holy Cross School in Overland Park about how faith and science go hand in hand. LEAVEN PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

by John Sorce
Special to The Leaven

OVERLAND PARK — There are plenty of people who have been to the Vatican. But not everyone has had the Vatican come to them.

Some lucky area school students, however, were treated to a visit from a representative of the Vatican Observatory in April.

Rob Lorenz, SJ, the outreach coordinator at the Observatory’s Arizona facility, visited the area to speak with grade and middle school students about how the Catholic faith and science go hand in hand.

“I remember what it was like to be in school and questioning if faith and science really go together,” Lorenz said. “So, as their worldviews are coming together, I want to be able to use my job to give them a datapoint to remember the Catholic Church supports science.”

The connection to the Kansas City area for Lorenz was made in January, when Holy Cross science coordinator Angela Kopp attended the Arizona facility in Tucson through the Astronomy for Catholics in Ministry and Education (ACME) Program.

“We got to meet a lot of our Jesuit priests who are also scientists that run the Vatican,” Kopp said. “It was really eye-opening to see all of the work that is being done at the Vatican in terms of science and research.”

While at the conference, she mentioned to Lorenz about doing a video call with her students. But after seeing Kopp’s passion, Lorenz decided to visit in person.

“I love seeing enthusiasm from teachers, so I wanted to make the effort to visit Kansas City,” he said.

The idea of the Vatican can seem distant in Catholics’ day-to-day lives. So, Kopp was glad to have someone commit their time to making the trip and narrowing that perceived gap.

“Having a representative from the Vatican Observatory was great,” Kopp said. “We always talk about the Vatican, and it can seem like something that is so far away.

“To get a connection for the students to start thinking about how universal our church is and how connected we are is pretty special.”

Lorenz, who also visited Nativity Parish School in Leawood and Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, shared a bit about the history of the Catholic Church’s Observatory.

Not only does it date back to the 1500s, but the calendar we use today was commissioned by  Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

“There was a lot of science being done in the centuries after that, and Pope Leo XIII formalized the Vatican Observatory in 1891 with the mission that we want to show the world that the Catholic Church supports good science,” Lorenz said.

“St. Ignatius’ spirituality was that we find God in all things, and the universe is literally all things,” he added.

A common myth is that you either believe in faith or science. But that is not what the Catholic Church teaches.

Lorenz knows that the students will reach a point in their lives where they will need to own their faith. He wants them to remember that faith and science can complement each other.

“Kids have to make their faith their own as they get older,” Lorenz said. “What’s very unique from person to person is how they pray and find God in their day-to-day life.

“There have been a lot of good scientists who have been people of faith. I think as Catholics, we use our faith to give meaning to the deeper questions that science brings to our attention.”

As an educator herself, Kopp agrees and stated that science can help with our critical thinking skills and support what our faith tells us.

“It’s important as a Catholic educator that we are also educating our students on Catholicism in science,” Kopp said. “I think understanding evidence-backed science helps us think critically, and the two go hand-in-hand in complementing each other.

“It’s fascinating that the Catholic Church is such a big player in the world of science. I honestly feel that a lot of the advancements we’ve made in science would not have happened without the Catholic Church.”

Lorenz shared a story with the students about a time he went to an art museum with a friend who told him that you can get to know a lot about someone based on what they create.

The world that we live in and the universe as a whole can tell us a lot about God, its creator.

“If you are a person of faith who is a scientist, you see the universe as God’s art,” Lorenz said. “The more you get to know how that works, the more you get to know God.

“The fact that we are impressed with natural beauty is God’s way of reminding us that it’s a good thing to study good things.

“That’s why we do science.”