Pope Leo XIV receives participants in the Vatican Observatory’s Summer School program, inviting them to share the joy they experience in exploring the cosmos and to contribute to a more peaceful and just world through the pursuit of knowledge.
By Christopher Wells
Long after the human authors of Sacred Scripture pondered the moment of creation with “their poetic and religious imagination,” Pope Leo XIV said on Monday, modern scientists continue to explore the universe with new tools, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), whose images “fill us with wonder, and indeed a mysterious joy,” as we contemplate the “sublime beauty” of the stars.
The Holy Father addressed his remarks to participants in the Vatican Observatory’s Summer School, which this year is dedicated to the theme “Exploring the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope.”
The astronomical observatory at Castel Gandolfo
‘An exciting time to be an astronomer’
“Surely, this must be an exciting time to be an astronomer,” the Pope said, noting that the “truly remarkable” JWST allows us to investigate the atmosphere of exoplanets, the nebulae where planetary systems form, and even “the ancient light of distant galaxies, which speaks of the very beginning of our universe.”
He expressed gratitude to the scientific team attached to the Space Telescope for making so many images available to the public, while highlighting the knowledge and training that participants in the Summer School will receive to help them make use “of this amazing instrument.”
Pope Leo XIV takes a group photo with Summer School participants (@Vatican Media)
For the benefit of all
At the same time, Pope Leo emphasized that the students and scientists are part of a larger community, including other scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, supported by family and friends, that allows them to be a part of “this wonderful enterprise.”
The Pope reminded them, too, that their work “is meant to benefit us all,” and invited them to “be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience.”
Images from the JWST
Contributing to a more peaceful and just world
“Do not hesitate,” he continued, “to share the joy and the amazement born of your contemplation of the ‘seeds’ that, in the words of Saint Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe.”
Pope Leo XIV concluded, “The more joy you share, the more joy you create, and in this way, through your pursuit of knowledge, each of you can contribute to building a more peaceful and just world.”
Pope Leo shakes hands with Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation (@VATICAN MEDIA)
