by sjcpost | Feb 1, 2020 | Vatican Corner
On Sept. 29, 2019, the first new sculpture since the mid-19th century was installed in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Francis wanted it located at the busy tourist area in front of St. Peter’s Basilica “so that all will be reminded of the evangelical challenge of...
by sjcpost | Jan 25, 2020 | Vatican Corner
Pope Benedict XVI, was the first pope in the modern era to retire. He promised when he stepped down in 2013 and took the title of “Pope Emeritus” that he would remain “hidden to the world. However, he has not remained hidden entirely. A 6,000 word essay by the former...
by sjcpost | Jan 18, 2020 | Vatican Corner
Pope Francis’ Apostolic letter of Sept. 30, 2019 established that “the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the “Word of God.” This will be the first time the “Sunday of the Word” will be celebrated and it will...
by sjcpost | Jan 11, 2020 | Vatican Corner
The Vatican Observatory in partnership with the University of Arizona operates a 1.8 meter telescope built in the 1980s named the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope or VATT. It is located 10,000 feet high on Mount Graham, AZ where the skies are among the clearest,...
by sjcpost | Dec 27, 2019 | Vatican Corner
After the time of Galileo, when the Catholic Church wrongly condemned him for his astronomical proof that the sun and not the earth was the center of the solar system, the Church developed a keen interest in astronomy. The papacy founded three early observatories:...
by sjchurchadmin | Dec 23, 2019 | Vatican Corner
More than 400 books have been written about the Star of Bethlehem and how its story could fit within modern astronomy. In a recent article in Evening Standard Magazine, Guy Consolmago, the director of the Vatican Observatory, an American Jesuit brother with a...
