Prof. Jaume Armengou, the Vice Rector of Academic Organization and the Teaching Staff, presented the speaker. “The purpose of these events is to contribute to the dialogue between faith and reason, which is very much in accordance with the university’s motto: ‘The truth will set you free’”, he said. “The more I am able to trust someone deserving of that trust, the greater my freedom is”, explained Costa. “If I am searching for truth, the most reasonable thing is to seek out a teacher who will help me find it. If I trust only my own reasoning, I will remain ignorant”.

Joan Costa is a priest in the archdiocese of Barcelona with a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, a degree in Theology from the Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya, a Master’s Degree in Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church from the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca and a PhD in Moral Theology from the Universidad de Navarra. He based his talked on great theologians such as Ratzinger and Hans Urs von Balthasar. “I’ve tried to figure out how reasonable our faith is, as it so often wants to leave the sphere of what isn’t reasonable, of feelings”, said Fr. Costa. “Whoever chooses faith gets an interlocutor who is able to answer fundamental questions about life, while atheists, if they are truly coherent with their beliefs, don’t have that”.

Costa’s intention was not to prove the existence of God. “His existence cannot be proven in the mathematical sense of the word,” he explained. “Based on what we know, we can sense some of His attributes, such as the transcendent being and the deliberateness of creation, and realize that His only motive for acting is love. That’s why Christianity is the most reasonable option, vitally speaking, in the history of humankind. It is the only option that talks about a God who became a man and sought our friendship”.

Costa then talked about the humanity of an act of faith. “It’s a response to a person worthy of my trust”, he said. “There is a lack of scientific spirit in people who say that what cannot be seen is unreasonable because they cannot see it and end up separating God from the world and, therefore, from history. In fact, faith isn’t something dark or meaningless. Trusting in someone is an expression of Love and is the most reasonable position to take. It opens up a world to me that helps me understand injustice, pain, the meaning of life, etc.”.

In conclusion, Costa summarized his talk. “Reason has different ways of reaching the truth: reason itself, trust and faith, which is trust in God”, he said. “Therefore, faith implies an act of humility in which we trust in God”.

The Western university was born with three disciplines. “The problem is that nowadays science has been left with no foundations. It ignores the light that theology sheds on reality, and we’re groping around in the dark”, said Costa.