Br Guy Consolmagno, SJ, Vatican Observatory Director, "Astronomy and the Vatican"

About This Event

Roman Catholic Popes have supported astronomical research for centuries. Pope Gregory XIII initiated a reform of the calendar in 1582 that required attention to scientific data, work which was supervised by Father Christoph Clavius, a Jesuit mathematician from the Roman College. Ever since that time Vatican astronomers have done important work such as verifying the telescopic observations of Galileo and classifying stars. Pope Leo XIII in 1891 formally re-founded the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory), which continues to sponsor astronomical observation and research.

As the current director of the Vatican Observatory, Br Guy Consolmagno, SJ, serves as "the Pope's Astronomer." Br Guy will address the intersection of faith, science, and history represented by the work of the Vatican Observatory in his talk “Astronomy & the Vatican.”

A reception will follow Br Guy's talk from 4:15-5:00 pm in the Jepson Lounge / Jepson 239.

Br Guy is a Planetary Scientist with degrees from MIT and the University of Arizona, with a research focus in asteroids and meteorites. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1989 and took vows as a Jesuit brother in 1991. He has taught and researched at a number of institutions including Harvard College Observatory, MIT, Fordham University, LeMoyne College, and the Goddard Space Flight Center. He was assigned to the Vatican Observatory in 1993. Br Guy has authored and coauthored books and articles on astronomical science and several books on faith and science issues, including Brother Astronomer (McGraw Hill, 2000); God's Mechanics (Jossey-Bass, 2007), and Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (with Paul Mueller, Image, 2014).

Br Guy will be leading a retreat at the Immaculate Heart Retreat Center on the weekend after his talk, Friday April 26 at 6:00 pm to Sunday, April 28 at 1:00 pm. Information is available at the Retreat Center website:

https://ihrc.net/events/astronomyretreat