Jesuits in Science

From June 23-27, eleven the members of the Vatican Observatory and three younger Jesuits who are candidates to join the Observatory met at the Jesuit retreat house in Calascio, Italy, to discuss the direction and future priorities of the Observatory. The idyllic setting in the Abruzzo mountains, two hours east of Rome, provided a restful and beautiful backdrop to the discussions, as the various members of the Observatory discussed the direction of their current work and outlined new possibilities (and demands on Observatory resources) for the future.

Chris Corbally described the status of the Observatory’s collaboration with the University of Arizona, and the state of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. After a nine-month hiatus a year ago, the telescope is back in operation and in excellent shape, with a newly aluminized mirror and a new CCD camera; a small spectrometer is in development and should be on line soon. However, as outlined in a letter from George Coyne (who could not be present at the meeting), the resources of the Vatican Observatory Foundation are not up to supporting fully the annual expenses of the telescope. A private fundraising firm has been engaged to help increase the Foundation’s endowment.

Bill Stoeger outlined the efforts of the Observatory in the Science/Theology field. By its nature, the Observatory is often called upon to contribute to these discussions; but we must remember that we are scientists first, and we work in these efforts most efficiently when we are in collaboration with other groups of theologians (such as the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at Berkeley.) Bill lamented the relative lack of involvement in this field by Catholic theologians, especially given the importance in developing a Catholic theology of science both for its own sake, and as a support for catechetical efforts.

Recalling that the Vatican Observatory was founded by Pope Leo XIII “in order that the world may see the Church supports true science,” Guy Consolmagno discussed the importance of not only doing good science, but letting the world see it, in terms of education, public outreach, and public relations. Given the “sound-bite” nature of the news media today, every member of the Observatory should be prepared to answer, in seven seconds, three commonly asked questions: Why does the Vatican support an observatory? How do we discuss the Galileo affair? And do we believe in extraterrestrials? Improvements to the Observatory’s newsletter, annual report, and web sites were also discussed.

Giuseppe Koch explored the nature of our communities in light of the work of General Congregation 35, noting its emphasis that a true commmunity is not only for the mission, it is in itself a mission of our Society. But, as was brought out in the discussion, the local community cannot be considered alone; we alre also members of the larger communities of other Jesuit communities, and our scientific, personal, and family communities. The issue of loneliness, difficult for every Jesuit, is especially acute for those of us working in an international apostolate, often situated in an unfamiliar culture thousands of kilometers from our homes; as well as, as academics working alone before our computers.

In spite of these challenges, the conclusion of the meeting left all participants with hope for the future. The presence of such an international group (representing ten provinces in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa) and especially the participation of a number of younger Jesuits were visible signs of the importance and the impact of the work. To emphasize this point, upon returning to Castel Gandolfo the community hosted a visit from Father General Nichols, who emphasized his personal support for our work in the intellectual and specifically scientific apostolate.

–Guy Consolmagno, Vatican Observatory