Vatican prefect, newspaper pay tribute to Teilhard de Chardin; skirt views on race, eugenics

March 28, 2025

With one headline describing him as “a Moses of the 20th century,” L’Osservatore Romano devoted two pages of its March 27 edition to Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), the French Jesuit philosopher and paleontologist whose views on race and eugenics have come under increased scrutiny over the past decade.

The Vatican newspaper published six articles under the red-colored banner “Approfondimenti—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin” [Insights—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]:

• “Un punto unificante chiamato Cristo-Omega“ [A unifying point called Christ-Omega], an unsigned article, subtitled “the theology of an often misunderstood priest”
• “In libreria da lunedì la biografia di Teilhard a cura di Mercè Prats,” an announcement of the publication by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house, of a new biography of Teilhard
• “Quell’Eucaristia sull’altare del mondo“ [That Eucharist on the altar of the world], Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça’s preface to the biography
• “La rapidità del divenire“ [The speed of becoming], an interview with Paolo Trianni, a theology professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, conducted by staff journalist Roberto Cetera
• “Eventi,” the announcement of upcoming events devoted to Teilhard in Padua, Brescia, Rome, and Verona, in view of the upcoming 70th anniversary of his death
• “Le «vedute ardenti» di un Mosè del XX secolo“ [The ‘burning views’ of a Moses of the 20th century], an interview with Mercè Prats, the author of the new biography, conducted by Pierantonio Piatti, secretary of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences

The unsigned introductory article, which described Father Teilhard as “a brilliant and stimulating thinker,” recalled the Holy Office’s 1962 monitum (warning) against his writings. It then quoted brief references to Teilhard by Pope St. Paul VI (1966, 1975), Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (1968), Pope St. John Paul II (1981), Pope Benedict XVI (2009), and Pope Francis (2015, 2023). The article inaccurately stated that Pope Francis cited Teilhard in footnote 83 of his encyclical letter Laudato Si’ (it was actually footnote 53), before concluding with the Pope’s tribute to Teilhard after a 2023 Mass in Mongolia.

In his preface, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, described Father Teilhard as “one of the most fascinating and complex figures of 20th-century thought. His work, which lies at the crossroads of science, theology, and philosophy, represents a bold attempt to integrate cosmic evolution with a spiritual vision of the universe.”

Prats, the author of the biography, “does not limit herself to examining Teilhard’s ideas in their historical and philosophical context, but reinterprets them in the light of the challenges of the contemporary world,” the prelate continued. “This ability to dialogue with current issues, such as the ecological crisis, globalization and the search for spiritual meaning in the technological age, gives her work extraordinary relevance and freshness.”

Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça added:

A particularly significant aspect of Teilhard’s thought, which Prats explores with great sensitivity, is his profound optimism. At a time when progress is often associated with risks and dangers, Teilhard invites us to see evolution not only as a source of conflict, but also as an opportunity to grow as a species and as individuals. His optimism is not naive, but rooted in a deep trust in man’s ability to collaborate with the creative forces of the universe.

Another significant contribution of Teilhard is his reflection on love as a cosmic force. For Teilhard, love is not just a feeling or a moral virtue, but a fundamental force that drives evolution towards greater unity and complexity. This aspect of his thought, which Prats develops with great depth, offers a new perspective on the nature of love and its role in our personal and collective life.

“I would say that Teilhard de Chardin is not simply current, but is even still ahead of our time,” Paolo Trianni, theology professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, said in his interview with the Vatican newspaper. “If I had to name a theologian who is able to indicate the course of the Church for its immediate future, I would indicate him.”

Trianni added:

In short, he is current because he is the theologian of the outgoing Bergoglian Church; he is the theologian of the new evangelization; he is the theologian of the Church for everyone and which leads everything back to God.

In its fifth article on the French Jesuit, the Vatican newspaper discussed upcoming commemorative events. Father Antonio Spadaro, SJ, the undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will headline the event in Rome on April 2, as will Andrea Monda, the editor of the Vatican newspaper. Bishop Domenico Pompili and Father Spadaro will speak at an event in Verona on April 3.

During her interview with the Vatican newspaper, Prats, the author of the new biography, exclaimed, “I could only call him the Moses of the 20th century!” She added, “Throughout his life, he will have only one idea: to lead the reader to see that the love of God and the love of the world can be reconciled because one loves through the other.”

The six articles in the Vatican newspaper took no note of Father Teilhard’s views on race and eugenics. In 2017, Dr. John Slattery, now executive director of the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law at Duquesne University, wrote that Teilhard “unequivocally supported racist eugenic practices, praised the possibilities of the Nazi experiments, and looked down upon those who[m] he deemed ‘imperfect’ humans.”

In a 2018 article, Dr. Slattery wrote that Teilhard’s “legacy of eugenics and racism can’t be ignored.” Professor John Haught of Georgetown University responded with a 2019 article, “Trashing Teilhard”—to which Dr. Slattery responded with “Teilhard and Eugenics.”

Subsequent articles on the French Jesuit’s views on race and eugenics include “Teilhard de Chardin, racism and eugenics: An exchange,” published in 2023 by America, the Jesuit journal, and “The Extent and Impact of Racism and Eugenics in the Writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.,” a 39-page article by Slattery published in 2024 by Cambridge University Press.

The latter article notes that Father Teilhard’s support for eugenics continued even after the Second World War and the Holocaust. In a 1951 work, “The Convergence of the Universe,” the French Jesuit wrote of “the urgent need for a generalized eugenics,” one “directed, beyond all concern with economic or nutritional problems, towards a biological maturing of the human type and of the biosphere” (p. 30). In a letter written to a Jesuit confrère that year, Teilhard called for the “Christification of Eugenics” (p. 31); that letter was part of a collection published in French in 1976 and in English in 1980.

 

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