The Society of Catholic Scientists, the Science & Religion Initiative of the University of Notre Dame, and the Lumen Christi Institute are inaugurating a new free webinar series called The Steno Lectures: Discussions at the Intersection of Faith and Science.  Taking place between late October and the Spring of 2021, this webinar series is intended for a general audience and will consider various scientific and theological topics that are at the forefront of the discussion about the relationship between science and the Catholic faith.  The series is named after Blessed Nicolas Steno, founder of the science of geology, who is pictured above. 

The first webinar is on October 20, at 1 PM (US Eastern Time).  The speaker is Prof. Christopher Baglow of Univ. of Notre Dame, who will speak on “Christ: The True Origin of Humanity.” This talk will explain how the Christian faith enriches our understanding of the origin of the human species.  Prof. Baglow is Director of the Science & Religion Initiative at Univ. of Notre Dame. He is also on the Executive Board of SCS and heads SCS’s Theological Advisory Committee. 

Registration is now open.  At the following link you can both learn more about the webinar series and register for the Oct 20 webinar:  https://mcgrath.nd.edu/conferences/academic-pastoral/the-steno-lectures-discussions-at-the-intersection-of-science-and-religion/

Each webinar session will begin with a 30 to 45-minute presentation from a featured guest speaker and conclude with live Q&A. We ask that participants submit potential questions for the Q&A in advance using this link
https://mcgrath.nd.edu/conferences/academic-pastoral/the-steno-lectures-discussions-at-the-intersection-of-science-and-religion/#questions

The second webinar in the series will take place in mid-November and feature Prof. Jonathan Lunine of Cornell University and Prof. Baglow discussing the science and theology of Extraterrestrial Life.  The third webinar will take place in late February and will feature Br. Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Vatican Observatory, who will talk about asteroids, their origin, discovery, and possible impact (literal!) on human life.  All presentations, as well as the Q&A sessions, will be recorded and made available online. Please consider hosting these sessions, either live or recorded, within your parish or among your faculty.