Pope Francis greets a child in St. Peter’s Square during the general audience on April 20, 2016. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, May 8, 2021 / 10:30 am (CNA).
Pope Francis and Jane Goodall both offered perspectives on “what it means to be human” on the final day of an online Vatican health conference on Saturday.
In a video message to the virtual conference on May 8, the pope said that Saint Augustine’s words in “The Confessions” are timeless: “Man is himself a great deep.”
“The Scriptures, and philosophical and theological reflection in particular, have employed the concept of ‘soul’ to define our uniqueness as human beings and the specificity of the person, which is irreducible to any other living being and includes our openness to a supernatural dimension and thus to God,” the pope said.
Pope Francis said that “this openness to the transcendent” is fundamental and “bears witness to the infinite value of every human person.”
Anthropologist Jane Goodall, famed for her work with chimpanzees, also spoke at the Vatican conference on “mind, body, and soul,” giving a talk entitled “What does it Mean to be Human?”
“I think where we fit in into the picture of primates is we are the fifth great ape, and our closest relative among the other great apes… Well, there’s two of them, actually, the chimpanzee and the bonobo. We differ from each other genetically by only just over 1%,” Goodall said.
She offered examples of how chimpanzees can be taught sign language, use the computer, and make drawings. During evolution, she said, humans learned to communicate with words, language, and writing that enables people to be distinguished by their ability to make plans for the future and invent rockets.
“But then when you realize how like us chimpanzees are, and yet how we differ with this explosive development of the intellect, this development of the intellect has not given us a reason to label ourselves as Homo sapiens, the wise ape. We’re not wise. We’ve seen what Mars looks like. We don’t want to live there. We’ve only got this one planet, at least in our lifetimes, and we’re destroying it,” Goodall said.
“All the major religions share the golden rule, do to others as you would have them do to you. If we can apply that to animals, as well as to each other, then I think we shall be coming closer to being able to define ourselves as Homo sapiens,” she added.
The Vatican health conference taking place May 6-8 on “Exploring the Mind, Body & Soul: How Innovation and Novel Delivery Systems Improve Human Health,” has featured more than 100 speakers including Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, as well as Clinton Foundation vice chair Chelsea Clinton and New Age guru Deepak Chopra.
It is the fifth conference of its kind organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Cura Foundation, which describes itself as a “nonsectarian, nonpartisan” group “with a mission to improve human health globally.” This year is the first time that the conference is taking place virtually.
“I am pleased that students from various universities throughout the world, Catholic and non-Catholic, are taking part in this event. I encourage you to undertake and pursue interdisciplinary research involving various centers of study, for the sake of a better understanding of ourselves and of our human nature, with all its limits and possibilities, while always keeping in mind the transcendent horizon to which our being tends,” Pope Francis said.
The pope said that when interdisciplinary research is applied to the medical sciences it “translates into more sophisticated research and increasingly suitable and exact strategies of care.”
“We need but think of the vast field of research in genetics, aimed at curing a variety of diseases. Yet this progress has also raised a number of anthropological and ethical issues, such as those dealing with the manipulation of the human genome aimed at controlling or even overcoming the aging process, or at achieving human enhancement,” he said.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin also addressed the conference via video message on May 8.
The cardinal said that human beings are distinguished from animals by rationality, “a high degree of self-understanding” and reflection on others and the universe.
“Another unique feature is the moral conscience that allows us to act by distinguishing between what is good and what is bad. This fundamental reference causes us to ask ourselves ethical questions about our actions, about society, about the use of the tools that we develop and make socially usable,” Parolin said.
“A strong moral sense pushes us to denounce and take actions that put an end to injustices through philanthropic and solidarity actions that counteract the manifestations of evil.”
He also noted that humans are capable of contemplating beauty and artistic expression in many different forms, as well as possessing “the openness to the transcendent horizon which in the lives of many of us leads to religious experience, but which also prompts us to question ourselves about the ultimate questions.”
“The ancient thinkers encapsulated this specificity and uniqueness of the human being in a single term, humanitas, which from Cicero onwards became the category with which to indicate the objective principle of a complex system of exquisitely human moral values,” Parolin said.
“Now, this day seals the three days full of content, and is also the final moment of a complex itinerary of reflection. However, it is also an openness to a constant search for human natures conducted by the philosophers and men of culture of the past. My wish is, therefore, to continue to deepening the mystery of our being with enthusiasm and determination, to discover and be fascinated by what makes us truly human,” he said.
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Most of them are heterodox leftists more interested in turning the Church into a secular NGO. Pathetic.
True.
Francis visits one more assault on the People of God. As if they need one more reason to turn from him and turn to Him. No matter how much more Francis justifies himself, many more will refuse to listen. We simply won’t hear any more. If he’s thinking of pulling out his megaphone, we suggest he fugghitaboutit. We’ve already tuned to the gospel channel which isn’t his.
Agreed
McElroy, the man best known for kicking sand on doctrines that offend modern sensibilities (and pelvises!), is now a cardinal. It’s been fairly clear for the past six years or so that Bergoglio is stacking the next conclave with men of this caliber. No surprises here, sadly.
Say Rich: Yeah, I agree. If the next Pope is like Bergoglio, I very much believe there will be a Schism
Yes, and very repulsive.
Um, McElroy? Right… Typical..a great archbishop in LA & other good, faithful candidates… But this guy… Really?
a great archbishop in LA
If Gomez is “great” then the bar is set awfully low.
Wishing the 21 new cardinals to be, God’s blessings.
Amen to that.
The homosexualization of the church proceeds apace.
Is that so? Can you tell me why you consider Card Roche to be pro-homosexual? Or the Indians, South Americans and Africans in the list to be what you label them to be?
Roche and McElroy.
Sure looks like he is “stacking the deck”. Church will have a hard time recovering from this blatant power grab.
It is difficult to say who is the worst pick in this rogue’s gallery of dissidents, leftists, and homophile protectors of pederasts. But my money is on McElroy as absolutely the WORST American prelate whose name is not Cupich.
Precisely.
Typical Francis.
Ignore San Francisco and the orthodox. Promote the heterodox.
McElroy…really?
How much longer, Lord?
Outrageous that he names the most pro-choice bishop in the US a cardinal.
What a slap in the face for faithful Catholics.
McElroy and Roche? That’s the best Francis can do?
Lord, help us.
It says something that such milquetoast liberal prelates like Gomez and Dolan, let alone Chaput and Cordileone, are unacceptable to Francis. Ted McCarrick remains the most influential and powerful Catholic in America.
Looks like a crop of good shepherds and bishops to the College. Well done, San Diego.
The train wreck continues.
My money is on Cardinal Cupich as the likely next pope (not that I like the idea one bit!)
From the Papacy of Paul VI, the steady and faithful helmsman of the Barque of Saint Peter, to the election and brief papacy of the “smiling” John Paul I; from the astounding, dramatic and world altering papal period of the orthodox, secure and crystal clear, faithful teacher of the faith, John Paul II (the Great); from the timid, but courageous yet unjustly maligned, theological guru and faithful papal teacher Pope Benedict XVI (future Doctor of the Church) to the present state of utter papal and eclesial confusion…. HOW IN GOD’S NAME DID WE GET HERE??????
I believe that the confusion is concocted. The Holy Spirit, I believe, is always in charge of our Lord’s Church. Jesus assured us of that, and I do trust him.
You might want to rethink that. The confusion is not concocted, you are simply trying to defend the indefensible. Although it’s a sweeping generalization, it’s safe to say that the Holy Spirit is probably not involved in appointing progressives to positions of authority in the church.
Mal is right. If the confusion isn’t self-inflicted, it can be a stubborn unwillingness to read Pope Francis and other church documents and think for oneself. The Holy Spirit is always with the Body. One ideology or another has nothing to do with it
The Catholic Church in America that McCarrick helped build with its support of active homosexuality is still with us. The Spirit of McCarrick alive!
I was astonished to see McElroy’s elevation but shouldn’t have been. Proof that it really does pay to be a worthless servile flatterer. So glad that for logistical reasons (new installation, Covid) neither of my children had their Confirmation from him. I’m not sure it would even be valid.
Diluting the teachings of the Catholic Church certainly seems to be Francis’ goal. He has been preparing worldwide Catholics for this since his election, and making cardinals of like-minded men instead of those who would stand firm on the foundation of Christ is the means to that end. It’s too bad that he didn’t make good on his promise of a short pontificate. He has created a crisis for the Catholic Church on his own, and seems hell-bent on undermining Her. He tests the Holy Spirit.
If this is true that the Pope passed over Bishop Cordileone over his suspension of Holy Eucharist for Pelosi and chose a Bishop who supports Pro-Abortion “catholics” receiving of the Eucharist then what as the faithful are we to believe any longer? Truth is truth, Belief in the tenets of our faith are Truth, there is no grey area, there is no “walking a fine line”. Sin is sin, we are all sinners but if I have mortal sin on my soul I cannot and should not receive the Eucharist and if I pronounce my Mortal Sin, support it in word and/or action publicly I should not receive and be suspended from receiving. Where are our Cardinals our Bishops our Priests that took vows to shepherd the flock and teach them Truth. Sadly there is schism coming to our Church, it is from those who are not faithful to Church teaching and instead is simply secular, political and evil. What are we to do? Where are we to go if the successor to Peter plays games and favors that which is not good but supports evil?
It’s seriously doubtful that San Francisco excommunication had any influence at all on naming this batch of cardinals, which was probably in the works for weeks, if not months. American politics is interesting to some Americans. Likely not to the Holy Father or most any others in Rome.
I also don’t understand the bellyaching about Pope Francis “packing” the College of Cardinals. Nobody seemed to complain about it heading into the 1990s. It’s a feature of the office. There are no Republican Senators in Rome to clog the drain of moving governance along. Thank goodness.
So what if it has been going ‘along for months’?
The difference in the ‘90’s was not having a Pope who refuses to clarify his own encyclicals and exhortations.
As a Democrat, you have a constant data stream – including a three year corrupt and fraudulent effort to bring down a sitting president from the top politicians in your Party – with your Democrats ‘clogging the drain of moving governance along’.
fake news, sir. I am a political independent and always have been. I can also read Vatican documents and find nothing “confusing” in the Holy Father’s writings. As for so-what, it kind of torpedoes the notion that naming one guy to the College is somehow an insult to other bishops, be they two, four-thousand, or some number in between.
There are books written years ago that have suggested this would happen in the Church, from Clowns of God to the Final Conclave. All along with the heresy taking place in the Church in Germany, in places of So. America and certainly in the USA with Cardinals and Bishops like Cupich, Gregory, McElroy and others and then we have those prelates in power like Dolan who prefer to smile and “brush off” his brethren’s wrong teaching. Wonder why the Church is losing faithful, look no further than those who prefer to teach wrongly; wonder why some diocese and parishes are thriving look no further than their Holy Bishops and Priests who follow Christ!
David, if this is the long predicted turning point of loss of faith, apostasy we know Christ remains with us, within the faithful of the Mystical Body, as you’re aware. Were that worse case scenario to occur we’ll be strengthened by Our Lord to endure. A moment to come ever closer to Christ and to give him greater glory by our steadfast witness.
As it seems now with the Synod on Synodality, its leadership, these questionable appointments et al we’re not, at least those who are swept along – headed for a good place. Except those of us blessed with a living faith. We should, as our mission offer prayer, what we can for the many who are beguiled.
Rod Dreher sums up the 2013 fraud:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/
The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. –St. John Eudes