Problem: Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS (22 June 1887 - 14 February 1975) was a British evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. He was secretary of the Zoological Society of London (1935-1942), the first Director of UNESCO, a founding member of the World Wildlife Fund and the first President of the British Humanist Association. Huxley was well known for his presentation of science in books and articles, and on radio and television.

In the early 20th century he was one of the minority of biologists who believed that natural selection was the main driving force of evolution, and that evolution occurred by small steps and not by saltation (jumps). These opinions are now standard.  Though his time as an academic was quite brief, he taught and encouraged a number of evolutionary biologists at the University of Oxford in the 1920s. Charles Elton (ecology), Alister Hardy (marine biology) and John Baker (cytology) all became highly successful, and Baker eventually wrote Huxley's Royal Society obituary memoir.  Perhaps the most significant was Edmund Brisco Ford, who founded a field of research called ecological genetics, which played a role in the evolutionary synthesis. Another important disciple was Gavin de Beer, who wrote on evolution and development, and became Director of the Natural History Museum. Both these fine scholars had attended Huxley's lectures on genetics, experimental zoology (including embryology) and ethology. Later, they became his collaborators, and then leaders in their own right.  In an era when scientists did not travel so frequently as today, Huxley was an exception, for he travelled widely in Europe, Africa and the United States. He was therefore able to learn from and influence other scientists, naturalists and administrators. In the US he was able to meet other evolutionists at a critical time in the reassessment of natural selection. In Africa he was able to influence colonial administrators about education and wild-life conservation. In Europe, through UNESCO, he was at the centre of the post-World War II revival of education. In Russia, however, his experiences were mixed. His initially favourable view was changed by his growing awareness of Stalin's murderous repression, and the Lysenko affair. There seems little evidence that he had any effect on the Soviet Union, and the same could be said for some other Western scientists.  "Marxist-Leninism had become a dogmatic religion... and like all dogmatic religions, it had turned from reform to persecution."

What are some other important aspects of his teachings and encouragement?

Answer with quotes: Another important disciple was Gavin de Beer, who wrote on evolution and development, and became Director of the Natural History Museum.


Problem: Saint Pedro Calungsod (Latin: Petrus Calungsod, Spanish: Pedro Calungsod or archaically Pedro Calonsor, Italian: Pietro Calungsod; July 21, 1654 - April 2, 1672), also known as Peter Calungsod and Pedro Calonsor, was a Roman Catholic Filipino migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with the Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, suffered religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam for their missionary work in 1672. While in Guam, Calungsod preached Christianity to the Chamorro people through catechism, while baptizing infants, children and adults at the risk and expense of being persecuted and eventually murdered.

On December 19, 2011, the Holy See officially approved the miracle qualifying Calungsod for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church. The recognized miracle dates from March 26, 2003, when a woman from Leyte who was pronounced clinically dead by accredited physicians two hours after a heart attack was revived when an attending physician invoked Calungsod's intercession.  Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the declaration ceremony on behalf of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He later revealed that Pope Benedict XVI approved and signed the official promulgation decrees recognising the miracles as authentic and worthy of belief. The College of Cardinals were then sent a dossier on the new saints, and they were asked to indicate their approval. On February 18, 2012, after the Consistory for the Creation of Cardinals, Cardinal Amato formally petitioned Pope Benedict XVI to announce the canonization of the new saints. The Pope set the date for the canonization ceremony to October 21, 2012 on World Mission Sunday, 340 years after Calungsod's death.  On October 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI canonised Calungsod in Saint Peter's Square. The pope donned a pearl-studded mitre preciosa and a cream-colored, pleated Papal fanon, a special vestment reserved only for the pontiff and used on the most solemn and rare liturgical occasions. Filipino Cardinal Ricardo Jamin Vidal concelebrated at the canonization Mass, and of note is that amongst the seven new saints, Calungsod was the only one without a first class relic exposed for veneration since his body was thrown into the sea. The cutlass knife used to hack Calungsod's head and neck was retrieved by Cardinal Vidal from Guam, and is currently venerated as a second-class relic. During the homily, Benedict XVI maintained that Calungsod received the Sacrament of Absolution from Diego Luis de San Vitores before his martyrdom and death.  After Saint Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila, Calungsod is the second Filipino to be declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Martyrology celebrates Calungsod's feast along with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores every April 2, their dies natalis (heavenly birthdate). However, whenever April 2 falls within Holy Week or within the Octave of Easter, his feast is celebrated on the Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent, that is, the Saturday before Palm Sunday.  Saturday has been designated as the day of devotion and novenas in his honour.

On what day of the week is sainthood shared?

Answer with quotes: