3rd Vatican City Council

Regional

Topic A

Promotion of Scientific Discussion

The relationship between science and religion was peaceful in the past, but ever since the new age of thinking and scientific discovery during the Renaissance, the relationship between the two fields of study have built into one of conflict. Throughout history, Catholic individuals, bishops, and monks can be attributed with coming up with scientific discoveries or trying to tie science and religion together. In fact, the Big Bang Theory was first thought of by a Belgian priest by the name of Georges Lemaître. Theories of Lemaitre’s kind, were all pursued with the motivation to better understand the Word of God.

However, as society entered into the mid-20th century and 21st century, science and religion started to fully drift apart to the point where common perception dubs a “Religious Scientist” a flagrant oxymoron.7 With people perceiving science as a tool to disprove the existence of a God, the Catholic Church was no longer commonly seen as a religion to facilitate scientific discussion.

Backgrounder
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Topic B

International Secularism

Secularism is derived from the ideology of humanism, which emphasizes the value of human beings and the importance of finding satisfaction in life. This ideology was forged during the Middle Ages, under heavily religious societies. The introduction of reason during the Renaissance along with increased distrust in state-supported religions such as Catholicism were responsible for scrutiny towards religion.

This new way of thought freed education, society, and the state from Catholic influence and created modern secularism. Secularism denotes that the Church does not hold any direct influence on the government, and therefore operates as a separate, private entity. Though secularism increases religious tolerance within the nation, it harms the practice of faith, as it reduces the Church’s authority and influence.

Backgrounder
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vaticancc@pacificmun.org

Dais team

Kevin Roe

Director

Alex Han

Chair

Kelsi Lee

Chair

About

VCC

Ever since the 10th century, societies, and individuals have been taking baby steps through time to distance themselves from the church and develop several atheistic ideas. As bad as that is for the church, the past popes have not done much as they should have to address the secular mindset and ideologies of the world. The year is 2020 C.E. The Catholic church has rapidly deteriorated into a relic of the past and is plagued with moral issues concerning the modern world and the church’s dogma. Observing this religious mess, the current pope has decided to announce the commencement of the Third Vatican Council.

The Third Vatican Council is a futuristic simulation where all the Catholic leaders of the world gather together in the Vatican to discuss moral issues that the church currently faces, and what it decides shall be a mandate for all Catholics across the world. However, this does not mean the decisions it makes will become the official law in other countries, but it may shape the views people have on the Catholic church.

With all of this in mind, the Third Vatican Council is an advanced committee that will follow standard MUN Rules of Procedure. Like most committees, delegates should submit their position papers to qualify for awards.

Director

Kevin Roe

Kevin Roe is a Grade 10 student at Pacific Academy. He is honoured to serve as the director of the Third Vatican City Council at PacificMUN 2019 and he hopes each delegate will engage in thought-provoking discussion while having fun. Ever since the beginning of his active MUN career in grade 8, Kevin has been amazed by the engaging debates and the diplomacy in the MUN world. Throughout his short MUN career, Kevin has met several unique individuals and is grateful for all of them and hopes delegates will develop friendships like he has. Aside from MUN, Kevin enjoys learning how to win debate rounds, horribly playing the saxophone, eating good food, and drinking copious amounts of water. He looks forward to meeting everyone and anticipates enjoying the heated debate in the committee!

Chair

Alex Han

Alex is a senior attending Port Moody Secondary School in the International Baccalaureate Programme. After being introduced to Model United Nations in his early Grade 9 years, Alex was instantly captivated by its rigour in research and passionate debates. Alex is excited to serve as the Chair for The 3rd Vatican City State. Outside of his involvement in Model United Nations, Alex can be found indulging himself in the realm (or perhaps an abyss) of mathematics, suffering from existential angst arising from philosophy, hiking for scenery, searching for more ways to automate his life through programming, and digging for the ball in the volleyball court. Alex is excited to witness the intense debate and creative ideas brought forth by each delegate!

Chair

Kelsi Lee