“Science if finally catching up with Teilhard de Chardin” is the headlline of an article in the August 2025 issue of The Christian Century about the documentary, TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist. Among other points, Jessica Mesman’s interview with filmmakers Frank and Mary Frost connects today’s scientific and technological advances, including AI, with Teilhard’s own work, seeing that connection as “eerily prophetic.” This is no surprise to the film’s producer’s, however, who have always seen Teilhard as a true visionary. Read the full interview at this link.

This month of July marks the 100^th anniversary of The Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee.  A high school teacher in that city, John Thomas Scopes was accused of violating the state’s Butler Act, which made it illegal to teach human evolution in any public school or university.  Also in July 1925, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin faced his own trial over the same subject.  Although knowing that all of the scientific evidence supported evolution on a cosmic scale, Teilhard also had a deep love for both Christ and the Church.  And so, in July 1925, after a week’s retreat and reflection, Teilhard signed a document, demanded by his Jesuit superiors, repudiating his writings on original sin and evolution. He was removed from teaching, was forbidden to publish anything on religion, and was exiled to China.

Though differing “trials” in some ways – The Scopes Trial was about the legality of teaching evolution, while Teilhard’s case centered on the theological implications of evolution – both mark one hundred years of a seemingly never-ending cultural struggle between science and religious belief.  That struggle persists to this day.

Learn more about this period in the life of this French Jesuit priest and scientist in the PBS documentary TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist. Stream it on the free PBS app (download at https://bit.ly/DownloadPBSApp), or use PBS Passport. Or use this direct link, https://to.pbs.org/3R89ycC, available to international viewers as well. See these resources for more information on Teilhard and evolution.

The theme “Everything Is Connected” framed the dialogue of an April 28 panel discussion at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. that explored how Catholic social teaching themes found in both Laudato Si’ and Teilhard de Chardin’s work offer a moral framework for addressing the ecological crises of our time and foster a deeper sense of solidarity with all of creation.  The panel of four included Frank Frost, who wrote and directed the documentary, TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist, which was produced in collaboration with his wife, Mary. The event was co-sponsored by Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. 

Speaking of the film, Frank described it as a “human story of a very complex person,” and noted that the audience for the film – like the audience that Pope Francis called to Laudato Si’ – is the whole world.  The moderator for the discussion, Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, asked Frank to speak to a particular line in the film – “Teilhard bridges theology and science.” As part of his response, he pointed to an inscription under the arch of the hall in which the discussion took place – a line that ends the documentary: “The age of nations is past. It remains for us now, if we are not to perish, to set aside the ancient prejudices and to build the earth.” “That,” he added, “says a lot of what Laudato Si’ is saying too.”

View the entire panel discussion at this link.  Read more about it on the Georgetown University website, as well as in this article in Today’s American Catholic.