Catholic scientists to gather near Chicago to discuss human sexuality, future of the universe
Society of Catholic Scientists will hold its ninth annual conference June 5–7 at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago. The program includes talks on human sexuality, the future of the universe, and the history of Catholic scientists such as Steno and Mendel. A pre‑conference workshop on science‑and‑faith speaker training, funded by the Templeton Religious Trust, will prepare participants to communicate faith and science. The conference expects about 130 attendees, with the society adding roughly 250 new members annually and drawing participants from 65 countries.
4 months ago
The Society of Catholic Scientists will hold its ninth annual conference June 5‑7, 2026 at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago. Over 130 scientists, theologians, philosophers and students are expected to gather for talks that range from the history of Catholic science to the biology of human sexuality and the ultimate fate of the cosmos, with livestream access for the public. 1
The 2026 meeting runs from June 5 to June 7 and includes a one‑and‑a‑half‑day “Science and Faith Speaker Training” workshop supported by the Templeton Religious Trust. 1
The event is open to Society members, associates, and anyone interested via a free livestream. 1
Founded in 2016, the Society of Catholic Scientists (SCS) now counts more than 2,700 members in 65 countries, with roughly three‑quarters from the United States and Canada. 1
Founder Stephen Barr, a physicist at the University of Delaware, notes that SCS adds about 250 new members each year and aims to counter the perception that science and religion are incompatible. 1
The conference schedule and speaker biographies are posted on the SCS website, and the livestream allows global participation. 1
SCS also maintains an extensive archive of educational materials and runs regional chapters, lectures, and college groups to promote dialogue between faith and science. 1
How does Catholic doctrine guide scientific study of human sexuality?
Catholic doctrine does not tell scientists what the lab must measure, but it supplies a clear human “horizon”—a view of the person, sexuality, marriage, and moral truth—that guides how questions are framed, what meanings are considered relevant, and how discoveries should be ethically interpreted and applied.
Catholic teaching grounds the study of sexuality in the unity of the person—body and soul together—and in sexuality’s human meanings (love, communion, procreation), not merely physiological function. The Catechism states that sexuality “affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul” and concerns “affectivity,” the capacity to love and procreate, and the aptitude for bonds of communion.
Stated in a way relevant to research: when sexuality is treated only as a biological mechanism, science is tempted to miss what the Church calls the personal and relational dimension of the human act and experience. John Paul II warns that modern thinking can replace the “integral” vision of man with “multiple partial conceptions,” leaving the person “more an object of determined techniques than the responsible subject.”
Catholic doctrine also guides scientific study by insisting that sexual life is properly understood through chastity, which the Catechism defines as “the successful integration of sexuality within the person” and as integration into “the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.”
That matters scientifically because the Church treats sexuality not as morally neutral material to be optimized, but as something that should be understood in relation to truth, integrity, and self-gift—what the Catechism calls “integrity of the person” and “integrality of the gift.”
Catholic doctrine interprets the moral dimension of sexuality as encompassing the whole of human sexuality under the sixth commandment. It highlights that Jesus extends the commandment beyond external acts to the interior disorder of “lust,” teaching: “every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
So Catholic guidance to research is twofold:
When Catholic doctrine addresses specifically marital sexuality and procreation, it explicitly tells researchers not to reduce the question to the narrow outputs of biology, psychology, or demography. Humanae Vitae says the issue of procreation “involves more than the limited aspects specific to such disciplines as biology, psychology, demography or sociology,” and that “the whole man and the whole mission” must be considered, including “natural, earthly aspects and … supernatural, eternal aspects.”
At the same time, the Church affirms the positive role of intelligence and scientific inquiry. Humanae Vitae praises the application of human intelligence to a rational activity: “The Church is the first to praise and commend the application of human intelligence” to what concerns a rational creature closely associated with the Creator.
But it also insists on a moral boundary: married love includes respecting the “laws of conception” and acknowledging that one is “not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator.”
Catholic doctrine guides scientific study by affirming both:
John Paul II describes the “rightful autonomy” of disciplines, grounded in the Medieval recognition that sciences and theology need legitimate distinctness to do their work well.
Meanwhile, Fides et Ratio states that scientists should continue research “without ever abandoning the sapiential horizon,” meaning scientific and technological achievements should remain “wedded to the philosophical and ethical values which are the distinctive and indelible mark of the human person.”
In other words, Catholic doctrine discourages a methodological move like: “since empirical evidence is all we have, ethics must be derived only from outcomes or preferences.” Instead, it treats truth-seeking as an integrated human activity that does not end with the partial empirical level.
Even without entering technical medical detail, Pope Francis provides a general methodological constraint relevant to sexuality research: scientific and technological progress serves the good of all humanity, and “not everything that is technically possible or viable is thereby ethically acceptable remains ever valid.”
Pope Francis also emphasizes that the Church encourages scientific research as an “expression of love for the truth,” and that interdisciplinary work should be directed to “fraternity, justice and peace.”
Catholic doctrine guides scientific study of human sexuality by insisting that sexuality is a personal, moral, and relational reality—grounded in the integrity of the person (body and soul), ordered toward love, chastity, and (in marriage) the meaning of procreation—so that scientific findings are interpreted within an integral anthropology and an ethical horizon, not reduced to technique or technique-driven judgments alone.