POSTED ON 10 Nov 2020
Euthanasia legislation in Ireland
Ireland Some time ago we were approached by the organization ‘Family Solidarity Ireland’ with the request to share our experiences with and vision on (legislation on) the end of life in the Netherlands and Belgium. This in connection with the bill ‘Dying with Dignity’ that is now being discussed in Ireland. Now, legislation is not our specialty, but a more philosophical reflection on the social phenomenon underlying such legislation, related to the Catholic faith and based on our experiences in the Low Countries, was also welcomed. The ‘talk’ was titled ‘Living with Dignity’ This video of almost 30 minutes was ‘pre-recorded’, followed by a ‘Q& A’ with about twenty participants from Ireland, but also Belgium, the Netherlands and even Malta. The text of the nomination can be found here (pdf): Living-with-Dignity-IrelandDownload Vincent Kemme Share this:Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in...
POSTED ON 2 Mar 2020
Discover iAquinas.com
https://iaquinas.com/english/ Share this:Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new...
POSTED ON 15 May 2019
5th International Symposium on Theology of the Body...
Defending and Promoting Human Dignity in a Secular Age 2019 marks 40 years since John Paul II presented his first “Wednesday catechesis” on the Theology of the Body. This fifth International Symposium will be held on the week-end of the Feasts of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and of Saints Peter and Paul. It will discuss and promote John Paul II’s Theology of the Body within a general theme—Defending and Promoting Human Dignity in a Secular Age—centering around the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of Humanae Vitae. All the talks will be given in English. The goal is to make a contribution to healing the current cultural situation of the Church and humanity with respect to sexuality, marriage, the family, education and human happiness by exploring ever deeper the goodness, truth and beauty of the Divine plan for human life and love. We wish this event to be an opportunity for a deepening of...
POSTED ON 11 May 2019
Towards a Second Sexual Revolution – Good News for Pornography Addicted Persons...
Vincent Kemme in Barcelona, May 8th, 2019 In May 2019, we were invited to give a talk during a conference in Barcelona, about Alcohol, Drugs and Pornography addiction. We took it upon us to share our thoughts on pornography, in the broader context of the sexual revolution if the sixties and the seventies, the digital revolution in the seventies and later on, and the ‘second sexual revolution’, as a result of the ‘theology of the body’. You can watch the video here. Please find the official text here: It is an honor for me to to be invited to speak to you during this day devoted tot the theme of Alcohol, Pornography and Adolescence of the Fundació Casa de Misericòrdia de Barcelona. I am a biologist from the Netherland, founder and president of Biofides, an international association for biology and faith, living and workin in Belgium, amongst others with...
POSTED ON 30 Jan 2019
Bishop Robert Barron: Is Stephen Hawking Right About God?...
In Stephen Hawking’s final book, “Brief Answers to the Big Questions,” published just a few months after his death, the famed scientist suggests that God does not exist and the universe does not require an explanation. Is he right? Brandon Vogt and Bishop Robert Barron discuss in this episode of the Word on Fire Show. November 2018 Share this:Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new...
POSTED ON 4 Jan 2019
Question on the liceity of a hysterectomy in certain cases...
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Response to a question on the liceity of a hysterectomy in certain cases On July 31, 1993, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith published Responses to Questions Proposed Concerning “Uterine Isolation” and Related Matters. These responses, which retain all of their validity, consider the removal of the uterus to be morally licit when there is a grave and present danger to the life or health of the mother, and hold as illicit, insofar as they are methods of direct sterilization, the removal of the uterus and tubal ligation (uterine isolation) with the intention of making impossible an eventual pregnancy which can pose some risk for the mother. In recent years some very specific cases have been submitted to the Holy See also concerning the hysterectomy, which, however, present a different issue from that which was examined in 1993, because they regard situations...
POSTED ON 27 Nov 2018
A Positive Response to a ‘Tsunami of Secularism’...
Keynote Address of Vincent Kemme during the 25th FIAMC Congress Zagreb, 2018 June 1st, 2018 Vincent Kemme Dear ladies and gentlemen, It is an honor for me to be able to address you during this 25th Congress of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, here in Zagreb, the beautiful capital of Croatia. Allow me to introduce myself to you, before engaging in my reflections on a positive response to the ‘tsunami of secularism’. I am a biologist with training in theology, philosophy and bio-ethics. I come from the Netherlands, and have been living and working in Belgium – two of the most secularized countries in Europe. My background is education. Nine and a half years ago, I started ‘Biofides’, an association for biology and faith. Shortly after that, I was asked to join the board of directors of the Belgian Catholic Medical Association, in order to help physicians...
POSTED ON 19 Nov 2018
Pope Benedict and evolution
“It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe; it is not the laws of matter and of evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, love — a Person. And if we know this Person and he knows us, then truly the inexorable power of material elements no longer has the last word; we are not slaves of the universe and of its laws, we are free.” — Pope Benedict XVI in Spe Salvi (“Saved by Hope”). Share this:Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in...
POSTED ON 15 Nov 2018
Pope Francis: science provides the ‘charity of knowledge’...
On Monday, 12 November 2018, Pope Francis addressed himself to the participants of the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, asking the scientific community a positive service that we can call with Saint Paul VI the “charity of knowledge”. The pope sees himself as “the advocate of the peoples that receive only rarely and from afar the benefits of vast human knowledge and its achievements, especially in the areas of nutrition, health, education, connectivity, well-being and peace.”. Here the full text of his address. The scientific world, which in the past tended to assert its independence and self-sufficiency, and to show a certain distrust vis-à-vis spiritual and religious values, seems today instead to be increasingly aware of the ever more complex reality of the world and of the human being. We see signs of a certain lack of security and some fear before the possible evolution of a...
POSTED ON 31 Mar 2018
Robert Barron vs. William L. Craig – Divine Simplicity...
A symposium/debate on divine simplicity – by Bishop Barron and Dr. Craig. https://www.wordonfire.org/ Share this:Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new...
POSTED ON 15 Nov 2017
Jesuit Father James Martin and the LGBT community
Today, on the feast Albert the Great, father of the natural sciences, I have written a letter to Father James Martin SJ, author of amongst others “Laughing with the Saints” and – recently, “Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity”. From Belgium, Europe, where I learned about his work via the internet, about his great sense of humor, I wanted to share with him some of my thoughts on what I read about his book concerning sexuality or ‘LGBT’. As a 60 years old former biology teacher from the Netherlands, husband, father of six and since sex months grandfather, I have specialized in the relationship between biology and faith as well as bioethics, sexual morality included and studied at the Institute for Theological Studies in Brussels of the French speaking Jesuits in Belgium. This has...
POSTED ON 9 Oct 2017
Euthanasia in the Low Countries of Europe
Biofides is an apostolate that tries to shed light on the relationship between science (life sciences in particular) and faith (the catholic-christian faith in particular). Besides that, Biofides provides clarity on bio-ethics: how do we handle life, human life in all aspects of its existence, in every stage of life and in relationship to his natural environment: the earth with all its biological and other riches. We work closely together with physicians, in the Dutch speaking world (The Netherlands, Flanders in Belgium) on a European level and even on a global level. Recently, we were asked to deliver a speech in Rome, at a very short distance of the Vatican, about euthanasia and medically assisted suicide in the Low Countries (of Europe). It was at the occasion of a international medical congress of MaterCare, an ONG of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, (Fédération Internationale des Association Médicales Catholiques, FIAMC). The question...
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Prev NextExtended Evolutionary Synthesis
In the six decades since the publication of Julian Huxley’s Evolution: The Modern Synthesis, spectacular empirical advances in the biological sciences have been accompanied by equally significant developments within the core theoretical framework of the discipline. As a result, evolutionary theory today includes concepts and even entire new fields that were not part of the foundational structure of the Modern Synthesis.
Sience and faith in a historical perspective
23 Clips from an interview with Prof. Peter Harrison, former Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, and director of the Centre of the History of European Discourses at the University of Queensland. Harrison gives a nuanced answers to questions on the differences and the interplay between science and faith from a historical perspective. He answers questions about the presumed conflict between science and faith, about Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin.
How a world renowned physician and geneticist comes to belief
Dr. Francis Collins is a physician and geneticist known for spearheading the Human Genome Project and for his landmark discoveries of disease genes. Talking to a terminally ill patient at her bedside made geneticist Francis Collins begin to think more carefully about his atheism. It led him to study C.S. Lewis, and realize that there was more to belief in God than he had thought. In these videos he tells his personal story.
Morality is not a Biological Issue
Modern biology makes us believe that we descended from the animal world and that we are nothing more than glorified animals. However, even if we did descend from the animal world, that doesn’t mean all our characteristics were transferred to us through genes and umbilical cords. For example, our anatomy and physiology did come from there, but what about our rationality and morality? In this article, I will focus on morality alone and argue that what sets us apart from the animal world is exactly the fact that we are rational and moral beings who can make rational and moral decisions. Take rationality or morality away from us, and we are indistinguishable from animals.
God and Morality
Another part of a video series from Wordonfire.org. Father Barron will be commenting on subjects from modern day culture. For more visit http://www.wordonfire.org
Arguments for Atheism?
Richard Swinburne is the Emeritus Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, University of Oxford. He is one of the leading analytic philosophers of religion and his contributions to Christian philosophy has been enormous. His first three books focused on the existence of God: The Coherence of Theism, The Existence of God, and Faith and Reason. Other books dealt with issues in philosophical theology, including The Christian God, The Problem of Evil, and The Evolution of the Soul.
Can Darwinism Survive without Teleology?
Ever since Darwin, the concept of teleology has been suspect among biologists. What is so controversial about teleology? Most likely, its history! From the earliest Greek philosophers on, it was widely believed that the world must have a purpose because, as Aristotle would put it, “nature does nothing in vain,” and neither does God, as a Jew or Christian would say. In this often misunderstood view, any change in this world is due to final causes that move things to an ultimate goal, a predetermined end. All things would achieve certain ends or goals because they were designed that way by nature or by God; that’s how hormones, for instance, are supposed to reach their target cells.
The Enigma of the Human Mind
Because the mind is more than the brain, the brain of neuroscience and neurosurgery is a mindless brain that works like a radio or TV broadcasts news. It requires a mind to study and understand the brain.
The Science Before Science
Fr. Mitch Pacwa (EWTN) welcomes renowned physicist and Thomist, Dr. Anthony Rizzi to discuss the importance of physics and how it relates to understanding and deepening our faith.
Think and Believe
Biologist tend to have all sorts of ideas about religion in history, often times based on widespread misconceptions. In his book “Think and Believe”, Frederick Marks clarifies a lot of these misconceptions. He considers it to be a contribution to the ‘new evangelisation’ that is one of the main concerns of the Catholic Church, today.

