Msgr. Pope on Asking “Why?”

“One of the more common misunderstandings of the modern age, we might even call it a delusion, is to confuse explanation with meaning. Through scientific method and other empirical ways of studying, we have gotten very good at explaining many of the processes and mechanics of the natural world.

“But to give explanation, is not the same as to ascribe meaning. To answer how things work is not the same as to answer why.

“Why, for example, do things exist at all? Why is there existence vs. nonexistence? Why is there observable order in the universe vs. chaos. Showing for example the wonderful and symbiotic relationship of photosynthesis and describing how it works at the molecular level, does not explain why it is there in the first place. Explanation is not the same as meaning; ‘how’ is not the same as ‘why.’”

In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the “Why?” of things in the context of God’s love for us.

To access Msgr. Pope’s complete post, please visit:

Msgr. Charles Pope: Why? A Simple question often overlooked or suppressed today. But we who believe must keep asking it of a secular world. (1 AUG 13)