Vatican Observatory Archives - Page 3 of 4

In art, science and liturgy alike, light offers ‘a revelation … an epiphany’

Mar 6, 2018

As the Easter vigil nears, when light grips the Catholic imagination, a Rome conference explores the artistic, poetic, philosophical and theological dimensions of light.

By John L. Allen Jr.

Vatican official visits Kentucky school ahead of solar eclipse

Aug 20, 2017

Most people in small towns in the United States never expect to meet an official from the Vatican. Due to its prime position for viewing the eclipse, a small town in Kentucky is receiving a visit from the man who runs the Vatican Observatory.

By Associated Press

As eclipse nears, recalling that even popes can get spooked

Aug 19, 2017

As the United States prepare to watch the solar eclipse on August 21, a look at a time when such events were viewed with fear and disbelief and how one seventeenth-century pope with the help of a heretic used torches, gemstones and magic to change the course of the stars and save his life.

By Claire Giangravè

Vatican stargazers look for divine inspiration

May 28, 2017

Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican observatory, says, “It (science) always makes my faith stronger because it makes my relationship with the Creator much richer. When I go to pray, the God I encounter in prayer I compare with the God I encounter in creation. And see it is the same God.”

By Josephine McKenna

Top Vatican scientist calls on scientists who believe to ‘come out’

May 8, 2017

The Vatican Observatory is hosting a major May 9-12 conference on “Black Holes, Gravitational Waves and Space-Time Singularities,” underlining the point that science and religion can actually get along. The director of the observatory says it might help if more scientists who are believers “came out,” sharing their faith.

By John L. Allen Jr.

Could Catholicism handle the discovery of extraterrestrial life?

Feb 23, 2017

NASA confirmed the discovery of seven new exoplanets not too far from Earth, bringing humanity one step closer to finding other livable planets and, possibly, extraterrestrial life. Does Catholicism have the means to survive such a discovery? The pope, experts and theologians say yes.

By Claire Giangravè