WHY PROJECT STOQ?

Our society is being dominated more and more by science and technology. These two areas have provided us with so many discoveries enabling us to understand our universe as well as numerous practical solutions aimed at alleviating suffering stemming from age, sickness and disability. Yet, their impact on nature and humanity isn't always a positive one. We feel that the human being is often considered an assembly of parts and elements that can be cut and pasted, rather than a biological organism and a person of spiritual worth. The critical rendering of these results and the necessity of providing our society with a deeper understanding of this situation is an immense and urgent task.

We believe that addressing this situation is deemed urgent by many persons, including scientists. Especially today science is engaged in a continual and dynamic process of growth and yet it is also true that there is a lack of a solid tradition of affronting issues in this way. Often, science is accepted and applauded as if it were a new religion that can offer us definitive solutions, even immortality, the absolute control over the forces of nature and the total comprehension of the mysteries of our universe. This stems, in part, from the fact that a long time ago, at the dawn of the modern era, science, philosophy and theology were separated, following very divergent paths, rarely entering into dialogue and integration.

GOALS

The goal of the STOQ project (Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest) is to build a philosophical bridge between science and theology in such a way as to make a real contribution to confronting the urgent concerns of our day. John Paul II spoke about the necessity of a new school; that is a renewed dialogue between the natural sciences, philosophy and theology. His successor, Benedict XVI, expresses the necessity of integrating reason and faith in such a way that reason doesn't pretend to be absolute and thereby becoming a cause for oppression rather than freedom for humanity, and that faith doesn't succumb to superstition.

BRIEF HISTORY

The STOQ project is coordinated by the Pontifical Council for Culture under the guidance of Cardinal Paul Poupard and with the financial support of the John Templeton Foundation of the Science and Faith Association as well as by other sponsors in Italy and beyond. The project originated in January, 2000 following the Jubilee for Scientists in which representatives from major worldwide groups met to take up the dialogue between science and religion. A subsequent convention at the Lateran University took place in January, 2001. These initiatives are considered the ideal continuation of the Galileo Commission begun by John Paul II in 1981 and presided over by Cardinal Poupard, which yielded a clarification of the complex theories of that eminent scientist. Another origin is the series of conferences organized by the Vatican Observatory treating the frontier between science, philosophy and theology. It isn't by chance that Cardinal Poupard is the inspiration of the STOQ project and that Fr. Coyne and Prof. Russell, organizers of the series of conference offered by the Observatory, sit on the scientific committee of the STOQ project.

In 2003, the STOQ project was founded with the initial collaboration of three pontifical universities: the Lateran University (PUL), the Gregorian University (PUG) and the Pontifical College “Regina Apostolorum” (UPRA). Since 2006 the project has entered its third phase with the additional collaboration of three more pontifical universities: the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum, PUST), the Salesian University (UPS) and the Holy Cross University (PUSC). In order to ensure the smooth running of the program, a Scientific Committee, the Distinguished Program Development Committee (DPDC), was created consisting of noted scientists, philosophers and theologians who guarantee the academic rigor and scientific credibility of the program.

THE PRESENT

The STOQ project is a cultural undertaking of great importance. It encompasses six different courses of study and research on the part of 6 collaborating universities. It is geared toward students, scientists, philosophers, theologians and all those interested in deepening their own faith or in exploring the possibility of being believers at the dawn of the Third Millenium without renouncing scientific progress. Students can take courses for the STOQ project in all six universities. These courses are recognized and inserted in a program of study with the previous agreement of the deans of each university. Moreover, in order to create the greatest cultural impact, the universities organize an international conference every two years to discuss current issues in the relationship between science and faith. Each year they also publish various online articles regarding pertinent topics related to the project.