THE DESIGNS OF SCIENCE

[Christoph Schönborn was born of Austrian parents in the town of Skalsko, in what is now the Czech Republic in 1945. At the age of twenty-five, he was ordained a priest of the Dominican Order.

Fr. Schönborn obtained a licentiate in Theology in 1971; he pursed advanced formation in Regensburg (Germany) where he came into contact with Prof. Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI). Two years later, after completing a doctorate in Theology in Paris, Fr. Schönborn was promoted to associate professor of Dogma at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

In 1981 assumed the title of Professor of Dogmatic Theology. In 1987 Fr. Schönborn was selected to serve as the Editing Secretary for the pontifical commission charged with drafting the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, which was completed in 1992.

At the age of forty-six, Fr. Schönborn was appointed by Pope John Paul II the Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna. In 1998, at the age of fifty-three, he was created cardinal.

In July 2005, he published an article in the New York Times that has been widely acknowledged as a landmark in the debate on evolution: The reaction has been overwhelming, and not overwhelmingly positive. In the October issue of First Things, Stephen Barr honored me with a serious response...

We publish now the reply of the Cardinal Schönborn (First Things 159, January 2006, pp. 34-38).]

#298 Varios Categoria-Varios: Etica y Antropologia

by Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna.
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In July 2005 the New York Times published my short essay “Finding Design in Nature.” The reaction has been overwhelming, and not overwhelmingly positive. In the October issue of First Things, Stephen Barr honored me with a serious response, one fairly representative of the reaction of many Catholics.

I fear, however, that Barr has misunderstood my argument and possibly misconceived the issue of whether the human intellect can discern the reality of design in the world of living things.

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