The INITIATIVE

This page was last revised on 06/07/08 .

The Baranzano Society began operation in the 2003-2004 academic year.

The formation of the Baranzano Society is a project in the "Local Societies Initiative" of the Metanexus Institute on Science and Religion.  This institute has provided a three-year grant ($15,000) to support the work of the Society.

The Metanexus Institute advances research, education and outreach on the constructive engagement of science and religion. The institute seeks to create an enduring intellectual and social movement by collaborating with persons and communities from diverse religious traditions and scientific disciplines. In a spirit of humility and with a deep concern for intellectual rigor, the Metanexus Institute promotes a balanced and exploratory dialogue between science and religion.  Mindful of the complexities of this endeavor, the institute works to develop integrative approaches that enrich the domains of both science and religion.

For further information about the institute, click on the logo.

The distinctive feature of the Baranzano Society is its focus on the field of bioethics.  Our local Society will function, on a regional level, in ways similar to what the Pontifical Academy for Life does on an international level.

Pope  John Paul II established the Pontifical Academy for Life in 1994.  Its purpose is the study, information and formation on the principal problems of biomedicine and of law, relative to the promotion and defense of life, above all in the direct relation that they have with Christian morality and the directives of the Church's Magisterium. 

For further information about the academy, click on the logo.

The work of the Baranzano Society is sponsored by the Salesian Center for Faith & Culture at DeSales University, which has provided a matching three-year grant ($15,000) in support of the project.

The interdisciplinary mission of the Salesian Center is to promote the interaction of faith and culture, in a mutually beneficial engagement, through academic initiatives that focus on the authentic integration of social concerns and gospel values, an integration that has been embodied in the lives of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal and that continues to be expressed in the tradition of Christian Humanism.

For further information about the center, click on the logo.

click on the icon above to return to the "home" page