The Council of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences is increasingly concerned about the distortion and even outright rejection of science in various contexts and for a variety of reasons. This troubling trend appears to be global, with evidence emerging from multiple countries. As an international academy based in the Vatican, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences has the moral authority to address these challenges in a constructive and principled manner.
In response, the PAS Council has prepared a public statement expressing our concerns and outlining recommended actions to safeguard scientific truth and freedom of science. This statement was signed by Br. Guy Consolmagno, and dozens of Academicians from around the world, including a Cardinal and several Nobel laureates.
PAS-Statement-freedom-of-science-16-6-25
Click to download the PDF from the Pontifical Academy of Sciences website
Notable Awards Won by Signatories
Frances H. Arnold – Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2018)
Steven Chu – Nobel Prize in Physics (1997)
Aaron Ciechanover – Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2004)
Klaus von Klitzing – Nobel Prize in Physics (1985)
Yuan T. Lee – Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1986)
Jean-Marie Lehn – Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1987)
Ryoji Noyori – Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2001)
Didier Queloz – Nobel Prize in Physics (2019)
Donna Strickland – Nobel Prize in Physics (2018)
Edward Witten – Fields Medal (1990, not a Nobel Prize)
Chintamani N.R. Rao – Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian award, not a Nobel Prize)
And of course there’s Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., who won the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science in 2014.
About The Pontifical Academy of Sciences
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) is an institution of the Vatican, under the ruling Pope, governed by a Council, and led by a President and a Chancellor, with distinguished Academicians elected from around the world. Its statutes determine, “The aim of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences is to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences … to promote the progress of sciences and the solution of important scientific-technical problems, which are fundamental for the development of mankind; promotes scientific investigations and researches which can contribute to the exploration of moral, social and spiritual problems.”
For information see https://www.pas.va/en/about.html
