Acclaimed Christian scientist

FATHER Bernhard Philberth, a German priest who made his name in Europe as an independent physicist, inventor and environmentalist, has died of pneumonia at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, aged 83.

Philberth and his younger brother, Karl, were unique as scientists and theologians: between them they had more than 100 patents in nuclear and electro-physics; and both were ordained priests in their mid-40s after the Vatican granted them special dispensation from the normal studies for the priesthood.

Bernhard Philberth first came to Australia after his ordination at the request of the federal government, which sought his advice about research in Antarctica. For many years he alternated between Australia and Germany before settling permanently in Melbourne in 1993. Following a heart attack in 1999, he was no longer able to travel.

As a scientist in the 1960s, Philberth drove the project to investigate the disposal of radioactive waste in the world's deep, stable ice caps, while brother Karl headed an international thermal drilling program in Greenland that was part of the overall radioactive waste program.

His other initiative was to promote environment friendly taxation that led to the German Bundestag introducing a tax on lead in petrol in Germany in 1984.

Born in Traunstein, a town in south-eastern Bavaria, Philberth's teenage years were overshadowed by World War II. He read voraciously and made his first invention aged 13. Towards the end of the war he and his classmates were enlisted in an anti-aircraft defence unit, and after the war he decided to study physics. His work on radioactive waste under the ice caps as well as that on many inventions on his own and with his brother, writing of several books and scientific papers, and consulting work for the Vatican prevented him from studying for the priesthood, which had been his dream from childhood.

Finally, when he was aged 45 and his brother 43, they were ordained priests after only 6 weeks of intensive instructions. They were ordained "ad titulum patrimonii", being answerable directly to the Pope, and were instructed to continue with their scientific work and make it available to the Vatican.

However, Philberth's books do not carry the official imprimatur of the Catholic hierarchy; they are meant to provide a fresh outlook and food for thought.

He also discovered the Zeitgradient (time gradient) and, jointly with his brother, developed a new cosmology.

Besides advising the Vatican on scientific matters, he was a member of the Academy of Science of Chieti in Italy, the Academy of Science in Besancon, France, the Physics Society of Japan in Tokyo, and the International Glaciological Society in London.

The many influential people he met and had discussions with included Werner Heisenberg, Romano Guardini, Henry Kissinger, Josef Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVl), Lee Kuan Yew, and Cardinal Sin of the Philippines.

Together with his brother, he founded the Ph-Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation administered by the Benedictine Sisters in Manila, in which they invested all their savings. So far, the foundation has enabled more than 2000 poor young Filipinos and Filipinas from marginalised families to be educated and ultimately become the breadwinners in their families.

Throughout his life, he continued to pursue his scientific interests as well as his pastoral and theological calling.

Some of his books, such as Der Dreieine (The Triune God), contain the most unique insights and analogies. His book Christian Prophecy and Nuclear Energy warns in grim detail about the consequences of nuclear war; it helped pave the way for nuclear disarmament.

His last book, Revelation, provides an insight into what occupied him most deeply; he builds a bridge between the fundamental Christian teaching and the present-day knowledge of science a combination of sincere faith and profound scientific knowledge.

As a teenager he studied Buddhism and was deeply touched by its teaching. However, in his 20s he came to the realisation that it is impossible for humans to save themselves and that they need redemption offered by Christian teaching and particularly his Catholic faith.

He was a wonderful priest teaching, guiding, comforting his flock and others, in his inimitable ways. A true father figure, people from all walks of life, including Aboriginal elders, turned to him for advice and help.

Philberth's invaluable legacy will live on in the books he wrote, which contain unique thoughts, analogies and insights. His deepest desire was to help the church develop a theology that did justice to the discoveries in science without betraying its essential Christian teaching.

Philberth, who lived at a retirement village in Forrest Hill, is survived by his brother, Professor Karl Philberth, who lives near Munich.

Waltraud "Val" Uhlenbruch and Dr Walter Uhlenbruch, AO, were friends of Bernhard Philberth for more than 30 years.