Despite what some may think, faith and science complement each other. Fr. Georges Lemaître may not be a household name, but this Catholic priest’s groundbreaking scientific theory changed the way the world understands the origins of the physical universe. In 1931, the Belgian priest devised what is now labeled the “Big Bang Theory.”

Br. Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Vatican Observatory, commented, “A lot of people think, you know, somehow the Big Bang is contrary to the Church. When Father Lemaître, who was a mathematician with two PhDs, one in math and one in astrophysics, came up with this theory, he was very careful to say, ‘It is not the same thing as the creation in Scripture. It's our best description of what happens after that creation.’”

Father Georges Lemaître’s studies into black holes, space-time singularities, and gravitational waves were the subject of a scientific conference at the Vatican Observatory between June 16th and 21st.

“Lemaître was so humble about the work that he did that when he translated his work into English, by then, Hubble had made the discovery that Lemaître had predicted, and Lemaître himself removed that part, you know, the most exciting part of the paper thinking, ‘Hubble's already done that. You don't need to know about me anymore,’ rather than saying to the world, ‘Ha, I was there first.’ He let Hubble take the credit for actually making the observation,” Br. Guy noted.

Nobel laureates, cosmologists, and theoretical physicists came to the Vatican Observatory to celebrate the legacy of Father Georges Lemaître who, despite having achieved so much, has for the most part stayed out of the limelight.

Adapted by Jacob Stein