1.. The sixth annual conference of the Society of Catholic Scientists (SCS2023) was held at Seton Hall University on June 2-4 and was a great success to judge by the reactions of attendees and those who have emailed us comments.  At least 104 people attended in person and about 1,500 watched by live stream.  

The videos of the conference are viewable on this website under VIDEOS. One can also go directly to the SCS YouTube Channel.  Aside from the fact that the talks are quite interesting and well worth watching, you can help SCS become more visible by viewing these videos and telling others about them. 

One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation of the 2023 St. Albert Award to Prof. Anthony Ichiro Sanda, who has won many prestigious scientific awards for his contributions to fundamental theoretical physics, and who has done much writing and speaking in Japan on the relation of science and faith, and (as if that were not enough!) serves as a Deacon for the Archdiocese of Tokyo.  You can read about all that on the St. Albert Award page of the SCS website, where the text of his inspiring acceptance letter (which was read at SCS2023) can also be found. 

The theme of the conference was “Critical Issues at the Intersection of Science and Faith.” There were talks on a wide variety of topics: how life may have originated on earth; the latest findings on the evolution of Homo sapiens; the “Dark Matter” that fills the universe (what it is and attempts to detect it); integrating neuroscience and faith; Artificial Intelligence; and much more.

At every annual conference, we have at least one Guest Lecture by a distinguished non-Catholic scholar.  This year we were honored to have a talk by Yoav Vaknin, a young Israeli scholar whose team has done fascinating work using new, cutting-edge techniques of “paleomagnetism” to date archaeological sites in the Holy Land, confirming in some cases the biblical chronology of invasions and destruction events that had been disputed and hard to date by other means.  This work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and has received wide coverage in the media. 

2.. The first conference of the Polish Chapter of SCS was held in Kraków on July 1-2, and was also a great success.  Over a hundred people attended in person and many more remotely. The videos of the talks are now viewable on the YouTube channel of the chapter.   More about the Polish Chapter can be found on their website.  

3.. The third St. Albert Initiative on Science and the Catholic Faith was held on March 25, 2023, at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia.  150 high school students, teachers, and parents attended. One can see the full program HERE.   The fourth St. Albert Initiative will be held on Feb 2, 2024, at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. 

4.. The successful second conference of the New Mexico Regional Chapter of SCS was held in Los Alamos on April 29, 2023.  For information about it see HERE.