Currently Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican, and formerly prefect of the Dicastry for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, the cardinal was in the city to participate in a debate at the Oxford Union that ‘this house believes that God is a delusion.’
The debate at the Union which celebrates its bicentenary this year as the home of ‘the most famous debating society in the world’, included speakers from the Sikh and Hindu faiths, philosophers and sociologists, and a co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Cardinal Turkson had been invited to close the proceedings on behalf of the opposition and concluded, “God invites us into a relationship, and in that relationship we discover the reality of his being. This relationship is not incompatible with science…it’s about having two paths to the truth.”
Cardinal Turkson’s visit to Oxford included a meeting with the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Irene Tracey with whom he discussed developments in neurotechnology, and an invitation to Prof. Tracey to contribute to a forthcoming conference at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
The cardinal also visited Harris Manchester College for lunch, as well as touring the city including Christ Church and the University Church.
Nick Austin SJ, Master of Campion Hall, said, ‘It was lovely to have Cardinal Turkson with us, and a pleasure to be able to share with him something of our life here including the work of our Laudato Si Research Institute which is so closely linked to the work of integral human development and social justice.”
