From Fauci to Aerosmith: Unique Vatican conference explores connections between body, mind and soul
What is the connection between mind, body and soul?
Immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, renowned soprano Renee Fleming, the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna, environmentalist Jane Goodall and the lead guitarist of Aerosmith are gathering this week to suss it out. Also, Pope Francis.
They are among a host of academics, scientists, medical professionals, spiritual leaders and people in the arts taking a deep dive into this question at a unique conference co-organized by the Vatican.
The CEOs of vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna joined cardinals, academics and the lead guitarist of Aerosmith in opening a unique Vatican conference on COVID-19, other global health threats and how science, solidarity and spirituality can address them.
Fauci, who is leading the U.S. pandemic response, opened the meeting by saying the pandemic had confirmed to him that faith and science are constantly evolving — and that scientists in particular must humbly admit they don’t have all the answers all the time, The Associated Press reported.
The three-day online conference, which began Thursday and ends Saturday with a virtual audience with Pope Francis, was planned well before the pandemic erupted last year. But given the current global health crisis, much of the conversation also inevitably centered around COVID-19. The gathering had been postponed last year when the pandemic broke out, and rescheduled to this year, though held online. The presentations are being livestreamed through the Cura Foundation’s Facebook page, among other avenues.
Organizers said the event has only taken on more relevance amid a growing appreciation of the need for global access to health care, new advances in vaccine technology and greater understanding of the mental health cost of loneliness. It brought together more than a hundred of the “foremost leading physicians, scientists, leaders of faith, ethicists, patient advocates, policymakers, philanthropists and influencers in powerful conversations on the latest breakthroughs in medicine, healthcare delivery and prevention, as well as the anthropological outcomes and the cultural impact of technological advances,” the description said.
There are presentations on promising gene therapy for everything from cancer to sickle cell anemia; the ins and outs of empathy, compassion, and being a caregiver, and ways to make health care advances available to all. There were no apparent Indigenous voices represented at the conference, and none of the panels in the 20-page agenda seemed to incorporate the meeting point between modern science and traditional Indigenous knowledge.
A Harvard neuroscientist will lead a conversation about brain health and rock stars with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. Soprano Rene Fleming is participating in a panel discussion on the role of music in treating cardiac patients.
A roundtable will address “Bridging Science and Faith” with interchanges between “top physicians, scientists, leaders of faith, ethicists and theologians” who will explore the links between religion and spirituality, and health and wellbeing. They will also “examine the relationship between the mind, body and soul,” the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture and the Cura Foundation, which are co-sponsoring the event, said.
“We must consider the interplay between mind, body and soul if we hope to build a more equitable health care system and improve human health care globally,” said Robin Smith, M.D., M.B.A., founder and president of the Cura Foundation, in the statement. “Providing an opportunity for experts from diverse disciplines to have a dialogue and share information and compare perspectives in a dynamic way and in partnership will inspire hope for patients, families and communities around the world.”
With News Wire Services
