“Science, if correctly understood is for us, a way of getting closer to God”
Father George Coyne, Director of the Vatican Observatory from 1978-2006.
In 2017, I was fortunate and blessed through a series of seemingly serendipitous events to have attended a retreat dedicated to the intersection of faith and astronomy at the Vatican Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. It was a profound and wonderful experience for me and although I would have to refer to myself at the present time as a fallen away Catholic, (waiting for the Shepherd to bring me back to the flock..lol ) I had the experience of meeting, interacting with and in some cases, forming friendships with people from all over who I would never have met otherwise. We were all bonded by our Catholicism and presumably the faith that goes with it and our interest in science—astronomy and space in particular. For me, it was the perfect follow up to my 2009 visit, with my late husband, to the historical Specola Vaticana at Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome and meeting the kind and charismatic director at that time, Father Sabino Maffeo. He inspired me to apply to attend the 2017 retreat, an experience that was so deep and so transcending, that I have often referred to it as “coming down from the mountain”. But that is another story for another time. For the purposes of this post and as a result of those experiences, I joined the Sacred Space Blog and to this day, support the work of the Vatican astronomers, many of whom I have met during my week in Tucson. As as an added benefit to being a member, I was invited to view a limited screening of the documentary movie “Sons of Galileo “–a history of the Vatican Observatory and an honest and informative rendering of the Catholic Church’s little known support of science and astronomy. For the record, I haven’t been inside a church since before the pandemic ( for all the obvious reasons and some not so obvious) but I still consider myself a Catholic and perhaps will find my way back some day.
Now back to the Sons of Galileo.
The documentary takes us through the history of the Vatican Observatory, starting with the ponderance of whether priests can be scientists? The answer is yes and they have been for a long time. We learn that the Church’s relationship with astronomy is almost as old as Christianity. The Vatican Observatory was re founded in 1891 with focus on observational astronomy. The VO also functions as a school where aspiring astronomers can study and get practical hands-on experience with the Big Scopes. Father George Coyne, who directed the Observatory and headed its research group from 1978 to 2006 is very central to the documentary and expresses the importance of doing good science. He tells us in the video:
” The study of the physical world, is for us, a way of getting closer to God.”
For me, having already spent time and seen priests and brothers doing good science firsthand, I did not need any further convincing. For me, the main takeaway of The Sons of Galileo, was the historic importance of Galileo, his discoveries and his beliefs and how critical they are to any discussion on the intersection of faith and science. As most people are aware, Galileo was the first to use a refracting telescope through which he discovered the 4 Galilean moons in 1609 and is considered by many to be the father of modern astronomy. But in a religious sense, he is best known for promoting the heliocentric theory that the sun and not the earth is the centre of the solar system. It was not his theory–Copernicus posited it first –but Galileo supported and promoted it and as a result, completely turned the Christan world upside down. As a devout Catholic who refused to recant what he knew to be scientifically accurate and true, he found himself at odds with the Church he loved. He faced the infamous Inquisition and although he escaped execution, he spent the rest of his life imprisoned in his own home. It would take centuries to sort out and for the Church to reconcile with Galileo and pardon him (well, sort of) To this day, the importance of Galileo to modern science, especially as it relates to the intersection or perhaps, I should say, the integration of science and faith, cannot be underestimated. There is a reason that there are songs about him, numerous novels and stories and literally, “everyone knows his name.”
But the Sons of Galileo in this documentary, the Jesuit priests and brothers who follow in his footsteps and peer into the heavens to further our understanding of the cosmos (and through their lens—God and his creation) would like to correct some persistent misunderstandings of Galileo’s belief in the heliocentric theory and the Church’s persecution of him as a result.
Brother Guy Consolmagno is the current director of the Vatican Observatory –sometimes referred to as ” The Pope’s Astronomer” who is a Jesuit brother and a planetary scientist with a special research interest in meteorites. He lead the retreat I attended in 2017 and I can attest to the fact that he is not only a dynamic, charismatic and compelling speaker who has spoken seemingly all over the world on the VO’s work and the relationship between science and faith. His writings have tackled in a straightforward and engaging way the search for life elsewhere in the Universe and the challenges that the discovery of same would pose for people of faith and organized religion. He is the co-author of “Would you Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (only if she asked me) ” and has a wicked sense of humour, which I’m sure comes in handy when you are dealing with life’s Big Questions:)
As one of the sons of Galileo, Brother Guy would like you to know three things about Galileo –and so would I. (hence the reason for this post)
- He was a devout Catholic to his death.
- He was right.
- The Church was wrong to use the power of religion to punish him for an issue that had nothing to do with religion.
This might not be exactly in line with what you may have heard from the Church but there it is. Definitely food for thought.
“Sons of Galileo ” is available for viewing online for a small cost. Check it out. It is definitely worth a view if you are interested in this topic. Also, the book ” Would you Baptise an ET?” sheds a thoughtful and sometimes provocative light on this fascinating topic and some of the issues we should be thinking about. If I can master the technology (with a little help from my Web Guy—hi Cory :) I will post some of my photos from my visit to the Vatican Observatory in Rome/Castel Gandolfo
Now you know what I think—I would love to hear what you think:)
M.A.N
