Catholic Scientists

A List of Catholic Artists, Authors, Pioneers and Scientists

© Dulcinea Norton-Smith

Mar 8, 2008

With the age-old argument between science and the church regarding the origin of man it is maybe surprising that some of these great scientists were Catholic. The artists and authors may not be as surprising.

The Scientists, Inventors and Pioneers

• Chemist and inventor of Pasteurization, Louis Pasteur was Catholic.
• Inventor of Penicillin, Alexander Fleming was Catholic.
• Physician and astronomer Galileo was famously condemned by the church for his theory that the earth revolved around the sun, but he was a devout Catholic himself.
• Nicholas Copernicus first proposed the theory of the earth revolving around the sun (the Copernican Theory) for which Galileo was condemned, but unlike Galileo, Copernicus taught it as theory not fact so his Catholic status remained untouched.
• Descartes is thought to be the father of modern philosophy and was not just a devout Catholic but was also thought to have proved the existence of God with near certainty.
• Pioneer in radioactivity research, Marie Curie was a lapsed Catholic.

The Authors

A lot of Catholic authors have a poetic sense of the macabre, perhaps brought about by the many interesting and sometimes chilling stories in the bible. Many other authors write less dark works but live lives that are in conflict with the church's teachings.

• Anne Rice shows great duality being both a supernatural horror writer and a practicing Catholic. She converted to Catholicism in 1998.
• Oscar Wilde was both Catholic and homosexual. He had a love hate relationship with his faith throughout his life but returned to it with force on his death bed.
• Playwrite Tennessee Williams was a Catholic/Episcopalian.
• It is a supposition rather than a fact, but Shakespeare scholars believe William Shakespeare was a secret Catholic.
• University professor and author of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes was devoutly Catholic.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born into an ancient and aristocratic but poor Catholic family.
• Author of Lord of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien was Catholic and many feel that his tales of Middle Earth were heavily inspired by his faith.

The Artists

It is perhaps not so surprising when looking at these artists' many religious works that they were Catholic.

• Artists Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse were Catholic, as was Salvador Dali, who returned to his Catholic roots in later life.
• Painter of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo and painter of The Last Supper (and recent namesake of the controversial Da Vinci Code book) Leonardo da Vinci were Catholic.
• Titian, one of the many artists to portray the Virgin and Child, was Catholic.
• Goya, painter of many church frescos around Spain, was Catholic.
• El Greco, the artist who created many religious paintings and sculptures, was devout Catholic and both loved and was loved by the church.
• Another Catholic artist who produced many religious works was Raphael.

You may also want to read about Catholic celebrities.

Stained glass

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