This was one of the key points of the speech given at the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelisation, held by Professor Werner Arber, winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize in medicine and a guest of honour at the at the assembly. In 2011, Benedict XVI nominated the Swiss microbiologist as President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the first Protestant to fill the post.
In his speech on the relationship between science and faith, in Pope Benedict XVI’s presence, Arber based his argumentation on an awareness that so far, science has not managed to find any relevant answers to all of man’s questions; particularly to those which “transcend the natural sphere.”
This role can be performed by religious faiths. The President of the Pontifical Academy even quoted the Book of Genesis to demonstrate that there has been a concordance between faith and science dating back to then, as the Old Testament describes a logical sequence of possible events for the creation of life.
Arber’s wish is that the Church, civil society, economy and science take on part of the responsibility for establishing a new conception of the future with long term benefits for all humanity. For this reason, modern societies should respect the correct rules of conduct, which are easily acceptable if rooted in religious faith. After all, Arber said, even Jesus would have favoured the use of science for the good of humanity, respecting the laws of nature.
In his speech on the relations between science and faith, given before Benedict XVI during the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelisation, the Nobel Prize winner touched on the topic of genetically modified organisms, claiming that they can “alleviate the undernourishment and famine which still afflict people in the developing world.”
“I presume that if Jesus Christ was living among us today - Arber said – he would favour the application of solid scientific knowledge for the long term good of humanity and its natural environment, at least insofar as this application, which moulds the future, can guarantee that the vital laws of nature are fully respected.”
He then pointed to transgenic plants as a practical example of this principle, revealing that the progress being made in genomics today “has made it possible to orient biological evolution to better suit our needs for a healthy diet, contributing to important improvements in the medical field.”
In 2009, the Pontifical Academy dedicated a study week to the theme of transgenic plants, concluding that “the methods recently adopted for the preparation of transgenic organisms – the Nobel Prize winner said – follow the natural laws of biological evolution and do not pose any risks linked to the methodology of genetic engineering.”