On tap at 2024 Society of Catholic Scientists convention: AI, evolution, and the nature of faith

Attendees at the 2019 Society of Catholic Scientists convention listen to a talk in South Bend, Indiana. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Stephen Barr

What does the development of artificial intelligence say about the human soul? Do humans actually have free will? What leads scientific-minded people to convert to Christianity?

The Society of Catholic Scientists’ (SCS)annual convention, taking place June 7–9 at Mundelein Seminary northwest of Chicago,promises to tackle these questions and more.

Stephen Barr, a Ph.D. physicist at the University of Delaware and founder of the group, told CNA that the group has grown to over 2,000 members worldwide since its founding in 2016, with its first annual conference taking place in 2017.

On the society’s website, the organization describes itself as an answer to the call of St. John Paul II that “members of the Church who are active scientists” be of service to those who are attempting to “integrate the worlds of science and religion in their own intellectual and spiritual lives.”

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