History of the Vatican Observatory: A Legacy of Faith and Science

Faith & Science Series from the Vatican Observatory Foundation
Saturday, August 3 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm

History of the Vatican Observatory: A Legacy of Faith and Science

Officially, the Vatican Observatory traces its beginning to 1582 when the Jesuit Father Christopher Clavius helped Pope Gregory XIII reform the calendar.

But the inspiration for the Vatican Observatory comes from St. Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Jesuit order in 1540. Ignatius would spend hours on his balcony in Rome gazing at the night sky in awe of the beauty of God’s creation.

Since then, the Jesuits of the Specola Vaticana – the Vatican Observatory have participated in a detailed scientific and philosophical exploration of the Universe.

Jesuits of the Roman College played an important role in the “Galileo Affair” when the astronomer Galileo Galilei was prosecuted in the early 1600s by the Inquisition for his support of the new Copernican concept of Heliocentrism. Also, the Vatican Observatory was instrumental in vindicating Galileo in 1992.

We will explore the theological and philosophical attacks on the Vatican in the 19th century that led to the re-establishment of the Specola in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII and discuss his 1893 encyclical Providentissimus Deus.

A further defining moment was in 1988 when Pope John Paul 2 issued a letter to the Director of the Vatican Observatory that provided an ultimate insight into the relationship of faith and science.