“How do I learn more about what the Vatican Observatory does? Who provides the support for that?” Those are questions I like to hear.
Over the last decade, we at the VO have been doing a lot to make sure that the world knows just what we do. We need to do more to let the world know who supports the observatory.
A great new way to learn what the observatory does is through a series of articles from the Jesuit publication “La Civiltà Cattolica” (The Catholic Civilization). The tagline on the English language version of their website says “La Civiltà Cattolica” has been “Reflecting the mind of the Vatican since 1850.” Yes, it is cool to see that astronomy is on the mind!
Indeed, the VO series is right on the front page of www.laciviltacattolica.com — just scroll down to find it. The publication has been running articles roughly once a month since May of last year, so there is quite a selection there now.
Each of the articles is written by one of the observatory’s Jesuit scientists, together with me, on research at the observatory.
Research highlighted in the articles includes lunar meteorites, “dark matter” and infrared surveys of our Milky Way galaxy. History of astronomy research is featured, too. And several articles discuss the Vatican’s main telescope located on Mt. Graham in Arizona.
This research requires funding, which the Vatican provides. The Vatican does not just support science with nice words; it provides a budget. Individual donors also support the observatory.
Without the funding, that Arizona telescope probably would not exist. For the most part, donor support comes through the “Vatican Observatory Foundation,” the U.S. wing of the VO that operates the Arizona telescope.
La Civiltà only wants articles about research, not cool new features of the observatory’s website or the educational outreach folks at the observatory do.
My boss, Vatican Observatory Director Brother Guy Consolmagno, is doing outreach in Kentucky, speaking at Thomas More University on Oct. 28. I go to the Jesuit University of Guadalajara shortly thereafter.
When Brother Guy is at Thomas More, you can bet he will not only be hoping to educate people about astronomy, about the Church and science and about what the VO does, but also will be hoping to recruit financial supporters for the observatory.
The newest Jesuit at the VO is Rob Lorenz from Northern Kentucky, near Thomas More. He’ll be there on Oct. 28. So will I. We two Kentuckians make for quite a Kentucky-VO connection. I’d love to see more VO supporters from Kentucky. Visit www.vaticanobservatory.org/support and mention our state!
The Gold Mass
While the Vatican supports science through the observatory, among other things, the Archdiocese of Louisville supports science through the Archdiocesan Gold Mass, among other things.
The Gold Mass honors scientists, science educators and students of science. This year’s Mass will be celebrated on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at Holy Family Church, 3938 Poplar Level Road.
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre will be the celebrant. Deacon Ned Berghausen of St. Agnes and Assumption High School will give the homily.
The Mass will be followed by pizza and a presentation in the adjacent Pastoral Center. The presenter will be Chris Baglow, director of the Science & Religion Initiative at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.
The Gold Mass is open to all people who have an interest in the relationship between faith and science. If you are reading “Science and the Bluegrass,” you are one of those people! So, please come.
Chris Graney, a Vatican Observatory astronomer living in Louisville, is happy to note that this column marks five years of “Science in the Bluegrass.”
