Priest scientist studies universe

 By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

UXBRIDGE – A Vatican astronomer shared some information about his field – and why it’s important – with more than 100 people at St. Mary Parish July 21.
Jesuit Father David A. Brown said that upon seeing the splendor of the night sky, “it’s a very common experience (to) start asking questions of meaning … ‘Who made it?’ … ‘Why am I here?’ ‘If I pop out of existence, would anyone notice?’” Father Brown works for the Vatican Observatory in Italy and Arizona.
He said the reason his presentation was offered at St. Mary’s was to invite people to “come and wonder … it’s a way of praying.”
He was there thanks to Father Michael D. Hoye, who was ordained June 18 and is serving at St. Mary’s before returning to studies in Rome. Father Hoye said he met Father Brown on a retreat in Italy. Father Brown was spiritual director for the retreat and they kept in touch by e-mail. When Father Brown was coming to Massachusetts for an ordination anniversary, he generously offered to give a presentation at St. Mary’s, Father Hoye said.
In introducing Father Brown, Father Hoye quoted C.S. Lewis: “When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive.”  
Father Brown told listeners: “The same God who builds this huge universe which is ordered down to the last detail … is also intensely interested in your own personal life. You do matter. You are loved.”
People are surprised he is a priest and a scientist, Father Brown said; some think faith, especially Catholicism, is opposed to science, when really the two are complementary.
He celebrates Mass, and has been a pastor and a high school physics and theology teacher. But now his day-to-day work (done mostly at night) is studying stellar evolution (the evolution of stars) and exoplanets (planets in other solar systems) with Vatican Observatory telescopes, he said.
About 16 priests and brothers, mostly Jesuits, work for the observatory, operated by the Jesuits for the Holy See, he said. He’s been working there since November 2008.
Father Brown was born in New Orleans in 1967, admitted into the Society of Jesus in 1991 and ordained a priest in 2002, according to the observatory website, vaticanobservatory.org. He has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Texas A&M University, a master’s in philosophy from Fordham University, a master’s of divinity degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology and a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Oxford, England.
Using a PowerPoint presentation, Father Brown gave some history of the Church’s involvement in scientific studies. One picture showed the Vatican Museums tower where the original observatory was located. He said the foundation of the observatory was in 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII commissioned Vatican scientists to reform the Julian calendar, the result being the Gregorian calendar still used today.
Because of light pollution, in the 1930s the Vatican Observatory telescopes were moved from central Rome to Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence, Father Brown said. The four telescopes being used there now are old, one dating back to 1890, two to 1935 and one to 1950, he said. Since they are too old for modern research purposes, in the 1990s the Vatican Observatory built a telescope outside of Tucson, Arizona, one of the best spots in the world for studying the heavens.
Several craters on the moon are named for Jesuits, because of their involvement with the sciences, Father Brown said. He also spoke briefly about Catholics throughout history known for their scientific research.
He said the Church does all of this “because the Church believes that it’s worth engaging the universe that we live in. … Our faith encompasses the whole of life.”
Some people may not believe there is truth in the universe, he said, but added, “Our faith says, ‘No - our universe is … real.’  … We believe the universe is good. … It’s made by a good God. … We believe there are two books” – the book of Scripture, and the book of nature, which science is good at reading, using the senses. But each field has limits, he said; science is not good at explaining morality.
Father Brown called the Incarnation – God entering our reality, taking on our flesh – “a stunning thing.” We see God in the sacraments, Scripture, the poor, and nature, he said; “God uses the stuff of this world to help us to know him.” He said looking at the stars filled St. Ignatius of Loyola with a desire to serve God.
People can make sense out of the universe because it’s made by God, who reveals himself, Father Brown said; “if the universe didn’t make any sense, there would be no laws of science.”
Responding to a question, Father Brown said the Church is interested in extraterrestrial life, but doesn’t take a position on it because science hasn’t discovered it yet. Just because something is unexplained does not mean it’s from somewhere else or does not have a natural explanation, he said.