Parish: Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Joseph, Battersea, London

Episode 4 – Broadcasts on June 11 (Friday) at 8:30pm, June 13 (Sunday) at 4pm and June 15 (Monday) at 10pm

Speakers included Dr Charles Wilson and Giacomo Casale. Charles is a leading expert on breast, colorectal and anal malignancy. He has led the development of new radiotherapy techniques, most recently the radioembolisation with Yttrium particles for inoperable liver metastases resulting in Addenbrooke’s becoming a nationally accredited centre. He has been the local principal investigator for several national clinical trials in systemic therapy for breast and colorectal cancer. Giacomo graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London in 2020. As an undergraduate, he spent a year in the Pintacuda lab at the Very High Field NMR Centre (CRMN) in Lyon, France, where he worked on the characterisation of membrane proteins by solid-state NMR.

We thank ECLAS for their generosity to make our tour to parishes possible.

If you would like to get in touch, email: [email protected]

Facebook/Instagram: @radiomariaengland #RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-on-tour-season-3-faith-journeys-in-science-ep4/

Parish: Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, Battersea, London

Speakers included Professor Mike Kelly and Sofia Carozza.  Mike is the Emeritus Prince Philip Professor of Technology at the University of Cambridge since 2016, having held that post since 1 September 2002. He was awarded a 1999 Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal for contributions to quantum semiconductor devices and in particular their manufacturability and the 2006 Hughes Medal of the Royal Society for the exploitation of novel transport phenomena in semiconductors in practical electronic systems.  Sofia is a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. In her current research, she is using neuroimaging and computational modelling to explore how early experiences of adversity affect child brain development.  

We thank ECLAS for their generosity to make our tour to parishes possible.

If you would like to get in touch, email: [email protected]

Facebook/Instagram: @radiomariaengland #RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-on-tour-season-3-faith-journeys-in-science-ep3/

Parish: Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, Mayfair, London

The speakers at the event were Fr Philip Miller and Miss Maria Findlay-Wilson. Fr Philip grew up in Kent, and then in St Albans, Herts, where he attended Nicholas Breakspear Catholic Secondary School. He studied Natural Sciences (Physics) at Cambridge as an undergraduate, and then for a PhD in radio-astronomy at the Cavendish Laboratory. He attended the Venerable English College, Rome, for his seminary formation, and was ordained in St Albans in September 1999. Since then, he has served in parishes and hospital ministry in Westminster diocese, most recently as Parish Priest of St Augustine’s, Hoddesdon.  Maria is the Head of Physics from Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School.

We thank ECLAS for their generosity to make our tour to parishes possible.

If you would like to get in touch, email: [email protected]

Facebook/Instagram: @radiomariaengland #RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-on-tour-season-3-faith-journeys-in-science-ep2/

Parish: Our Lady of The Assumption and The English Martyrs, Cambridge

The speakers at the event were Prof. Robert Turner and Dr. Mihnea Turcanu. Robert is a British neuroscientist, physicist, and social anthropologist. He has been a director and professor at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and is an internationally recognized expert in brain physics and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Mihnea pursued a PhD in biomedical engineering at the University of Glasgow where he specialized in ultrasound-mediated targeted drug delivery technology. He is currently a research associate at the university of Leuven, Belgium where he has been using AI technology to enhance ultrasound imaging that is used in radiotherapy cancer treatments.

We thank ECLAS for their generosity to make our tour to parishes possible.

If you would like to get in touch, email: [email protected]

Facebook/Instagram: @radiomariaengland #RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-on-tour-season-3-faith-journeys-in-science-ep1/

Natural Evil

In episode 8, the last episode of this series, we invited two speakers: Dr Vinoth Ramachandra, theologian, author and speaker, with a doctorate in nuclear engineering and Prof. Daniela De Angelis, a statistical scientist working in public health to talk about Natural Evil. We learned what the difference between natural and moral evil is, what the “problem of evil” is, creating vs permitting evil and how we are to understand the plagues in the book of Exodus. Prof De Angelis also shared with us what her personal experience has been like as part of the Royal Statistical Society Task Force for COVID-19.

We also had a chance to comment on an interview Stephen Fry did a few years ago that went viral (linked below in resources) and C.S. Lewis’ struggle to find consolation after the death of his wife from cancer in ‘A Grief Observed’.

Why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it?

Get in touch: [email protected]

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#RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-season-2-episode-8-natural-evil/

Faith and Reason: can a scientist believe?

Throughout series 1 and 2 we have looked at many different areas where science and religion may seem to contradict each other, e.g creation and evolution, cosmology, neuroscience of religious beliefs, miracles... In episode 7 of this series, we will be looking at something more fundamental: What is faith?, What is reason? How do they relate? Are science and religion fundamentally at odds with each other?  We will also take a closer look at the rise of new atheism within scientific circles and how we can explain our faith in an increasingly rationalistic culture. In order to discuss these topics, and many more, we have invited two speakers: Fr Andrew Pinsent, physicist and Catholic priest, and Prof Stephen Bullivant, Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion.

Is there a space for faith-based claims in a rational mind?

Get in touch: [email protected]

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#RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-season-2-episode-7-faith-and-reason-can-a-scientist-believe/

God, Humans and Artificial Intelligence

In episode 6 of this series, we looked into the status quo of Artificial Intelligence and outweighed potential dangers and benefits for our society. Alongside our theological advisor Fr Robert Verill, we were investigating many ethical questions regarding Artificial Intelligence from a faith perspective with Ilyas Khan KSG, CEO of Cambridge Quantum Computing, and Matthew Johnson, research scientist at Microsoft.

Can Artificial Intelligence develop consciousness and what kind of theological questions would that raise? In this context, what does it really mean to be made in God's image?

Get in touch: [email protected]

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#RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-season-2-episode-6-god-humans-and-artificial-intelligence/

Mental health, faith and wellbeing

In episode 5 of this series, we explored mental health with insights from science, philosophy and theology. We had the honour and pleasure to have two guest speakers: consultant psychiatrist Dr T. Ayodele Ajayi and assistant psychologist Julia Szacilo. We discussed some of the ways mental health difficulties arise, the role genetics and environmental factors play, the wealth of job roles as well as how mental health professionals look after themselves. We also talked about how a decision about treatment is made, developing virtue, and increasing trust in God in the face of adversity. Finally, we asked whether we should be seeking Christian professionals and we touched on how we can support our loved ones.

Where is God in the midst of the struggle?

Get in touch: [email protected]

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#RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-season-2-episode-4-mental-health-faith-and-wellbeing/

God and Mathematics: Truth and Beauty

In episode 4 of this series, we explored the realm of mathematics and investigated what Maths can tell us about God. We had the honour and pleasure to host Prof Francis Su who, alongside Fr Robert Verrill, gave us a fascinating insight into the beautiful complexity of mathematics. They talked about what inspired them to study that discipline, whether there’s beauty to be found in mathematics, the limits what mathematics can tell us about the world, great mathematicians, and Biblical numerology among others.

Does God have to follow the laws of logic or can He contradict himself? Can God make a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it Himself?

Get in touch: [email protected]

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#RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-season-2-episode-4-god-and-mathematics-truth-and-beauty/

Subdue the Earth: Catholics and the Environment

In episode three of our series, we delved into what our relationship with God and our global neighbour has to do with the care for the environment and how today’s climate crisis fits into the much broader picture of the story of salvation for us as Christians. To help us answer those questions, we were very fortunate to host Sr Margaret Atkins, an Augustinian Canoness specialising in faith, ethics and ecology, and Xavier de Bénazé, a Jesuit and newly-appointed deacon building bridges between Ecology and Theology.

What’s climate change all about and why is it so important? What are some of the key ideas Pope Francis discusses in Laudato Si’ that can help us better understand our relationship with the environment and our care for it? How do we act responsibly  at different levels: World - Community - Family? Ultimately, how does care for the environment connect to the story of salvation?

Get in touch: [email protected]

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#RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

https://radiomariaengland.uk/science-and-faith-season-2-episode-3-subdue-the-earth-catholics-and-the-environment/