Eduardo Agosta Scarel, O. Carm., of the Carmelite NGO Named to the Pontifical Academy for Life
Eduardo Agosta Scarel, O. Carm., a member of the Dulce Nombre di Maria Carmelite Province and vice president of the Carmelite NGO, has been named as a corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life by Pope Leo XIV.
“I accept this appointment with deep gratitude and a sense of responsibility, as a Carmelite friar, vice-president of the Carmelite NGO, director of the Department of Integral Ecology at the Spanish Episcopal Conference, and a researcher in climate variability and change,” responded Eduardo when contacted by the Carmelite Communications Office. “I accept this appointment as a call to serve through integral ecology and the Social Doctrine of the Church, bringing scientific rigor and ethical discernment to address the challenges affecting human life and our common home. My commitment is to translate technical knowledge on climate risks and their socio-ecological impacts into proposals and guidelines that promote justice, the protection of the most vulnerable, and the common good.”
Asked about his specific goals for his time with the Academy, Fr. Eduardo said, “I shall endeavor to foster interdisciplinary dialogue between science, theology and public policy, offer technical and ethical advice, and collaborate on training and advocacy initiatives that integrate sustainability and human dignity.”
Finally, he added, “I am grateful for the trust placed in me and place myself at the service of the Academy’s mission with humility and dedication.”
The Pontifical Academy for Life is made up of the Ordinary Members, Corresponding Members, Honorary Members and Young Researcher Members. The members of the Academy represent the various branches of the biomedical sciences and those that are most closely related to problems concerning the promotion and protection of life. There are 160 members in total. Corresponding Members are selected by the Governing Council and appointed by it for a term of five years, on the basis of their professional integrity and professional expertise and their acknowledged commitment to the promotion and protection of human life.
In the Motu Proprio Vitae Mysterium issued by St. John Paul II on February 11, 1994, the task of the Academy is “to study and provide information and training about the principal problems of law and biomedicine pertaining to the promotion and protection of life, especially in the direct relationship they have with Christian morality and the directives of the Church's Magisterium.”
