Benjamin Ivry on the French Catholic polymath Blaise Pascal, born 400 years ago, whose sharp mind inspired a kinship with Pope Francis.
Anticipating the 400th anniversary this year of the birth of French mathematician and physicist, literary talent and Catholic philosopher Blaise Pascal, some observers inquired if Pope Francis might beatify him. After all, in a 2017 interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica and elsewhere, the Pope had mentioned Pascal as a candidate for beatification.
Some found the notion piquant, given that Pascal had, among his other works, published The Provincial Letters (Les Provinciales), a work highly critical of Jesuits of his time. Would the Jesuit Pope Francis turn the other cheek to the extent of beatifying this harsh critic?
