Ladies and Gentlemen

First of all let me express my most heartfelt thanks to the John Templeton Foundation and let me tell President Templeton how deeply I feel honored at having received this prestigious prize, aimed at rewarding a significant contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension. Honored and, at the same time, feeling very humble for, while fully sharing Sir John Templeton’s guiding idea that no domain is, in the long run, more important than that of spirituality and its possible evolution, I also deeply realize how ticklish it is. I am fully aware of the danger of getting astray on exploring it.

When Jack Templeton informed me that my nomination of Bernard d’Espagnat for the Templeton Prize was successful, I must say that it was one of my life biggest joys! And this for 2 reasons:

First, of course, because of the recognition such a prize contributes to give to the work of Bernard d’Espagnat, on whose importance I will come back in a moment, but also because of the fact that it represented the achievement of a process of construction of a bridge above the Atlantic, more exactly between the Anglo-Saxon thinking and the French thinking.

Presentation of the philosoplical implications of Quantum Mechanics in a special issue of the Science and Spirit review

A insightful comparison of the values of a leading scientist and the great political and spiritual leader.