Posted by:
summer
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Date: October 28, 2016 09:16AM
There are still priests who are scholars. The Jesuits in particular encourage that. I met a group of priests a couple of years ago who teach at a prominent Catholic university. They are mature, educated, thoughtful men.
One example of a more recent prominent priest/scholar is cosmologist Georges Lemaître (1894–1966,) whose ideas contributed to the later development of the Big Bang theory.
https://www.amazon.com/The-Day-Without-Yesterday-ebook/dp/B007ZS0T42/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2You also have paleontologist and geologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955,) who participated in the discovery of Peking Man.
In a March, 2014 Forbes article, writer John Ferrell attributes the suppression of modern priest scientists to the damaging actions of two popes: Pius IX and Pius X, the latter of whom he termed an anti-intellectual. Pius X initiated a purge that included excommunications, dismissals from office, and book bannings.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfarrell/2014/03/27/about-those-nine-great-priest-scientists/#fd8823eb8f3bAlso, it is clear that fewer men in general are attracted to the Catholic priesthood, thus further shrinking the pool of priest/scientists.