An international scientific symposium was held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on Saturday on the occasion of commemorating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Rudjer Josip Boskovic, a Jesuit and renowned Croatian scientist and theologian, and after Sunday's Angelus prayer in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, extended his greetings in the Croatian language to the conference's participants, the Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry said in a press release today.
The symposium titled "Father Rudjer Boskovic -- the Promoter of the Truth", was organised by the Gregoriana, the Croatian foreign ministry and the Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus.
The ministry's press release recalls that during his visit to Croatia earlier this year, the pontiff said that the Jesuit Boskovic "is a good illustration of the happy symbiosis of faith and scholarship, each stimulating the other through research that is at the same time open, diversified and capable of synthesis".
At today's Angelus, the pope said that the Croatian Jesuit Boskovic should serve as a model to all scientists.
During the symposium. a memorial plaque in honour of Boskovic was set up at the entrance to the Gregoriana.
Boskovic, who was born in Dubrovnik on 18 May 1711, developed foundational ideas about atoms, fields, and other areas of physics. He also contributed to astronomy, architecture, and arts. The crater Boscovich on the Moon is named in his honour. This theologian, physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat and poet died on 13 February 1787 in Milan.
