Vatican’s astronomer: Church supports mainstream science
HE HOLDS a position which dates back hundreds of years — and now the Holy See’s official stargazer is visiting Broken Bay, Tuggerah, Pennant Hills and Waitara and to discuss the big questions about faith and the universe.
Central Coast
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SCIENCE and the Vatican may appear at first glance to be strange bedfellows but the Holy See’s official stargazer will visit the Diocese of Broken Bay to give special presentations about faith and science.
Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno is the director of the Vatican Observatory — a position which dates back hundreds of years — who is in Australia to share, firstly, there is a Vatican Observatory and secondly that the Catholic Church supports mainstream science.
“I hope that people come away with a new joy in looking at the stars, especially people in Australia where you have such a wonderful sky to see,” Br Guy said.
“The joy we get from the universe is very much a joy from the Creator who delights in sharing creation with us.”
Since he was a child Br Guy has known the stars by name but now as a Jesuit brother looking up at the heavenly constellations, he believes wholeheartedly it makes him, and others, feel closer to God.
“I hear him (God) laughing with delight, the way that an artist enjoys an audience that gets what he or she is trying to do,” he said.
“It is a form of conversation between us, which is to say, it is a form of prayer. And then I hear, ‘But wait! There’s one more thing …’ and I can’t wait to see what’s going to be revealed next.”
Br Guy will give a series of three presentations starting with a “Twilight Talks with Catholic Youth Broken Bay” at Hotel Pennant Hills on April 24 and “In awe of the Universe: Connecting Science and Faith” at The Light of Christ Centre, Waitara, on April 28.
His tour will conclude with a “Looking up at the Stars: We’re All Connected” presentation at St Peter’s Catholic College at Tuggerah from 7pm-9.30pm on April 30.
The presentations will explore some of the big new ideas in Astronomy, and the relationship between science and faith.
The talk at Tuggerah will also include a viewing of the night sky with telescopes, weather permitting.
“Seeing (stars) now reminds me of all sorts of moments in my life when seeing them meant something special, perhaps when my father first named the summer triangle, or when I felt homesick in Africa and then saw overhead my familiar friends,” he said.
“I also remember one wonderful moment in Sevenhill in South Australia, looking at the Milky Way, and then seeing the Magellanic Clouds off to the south — something I can’t see in the northern hemisphere — seeing the two, I suddenly realised that I am not just looking at a streak of stars ‘out there’, that we and our solar system are actually in the middle of this disk, that we are very much a part of this whole universe.”
“The universe is beautiful; so are the laws that describe how they work. I do feel a constant joy, a joy that reminds me of my favourite moments of prayer,” he said.
Asked if he would like to travel into space Br Guy said he was never adventurous as a child.
“I wanted to be the guy who sent off the adventurers … Gandalf, not Bilbo!” he said.
“But as I have grown older I have become more adventurous, and now my motto is to never walk past an open door without at least taking a peek through. So, sure, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to go into space?”
The presentations are free but bookings are required: 9847 0428.
TIME LAPSE OF THE MURCHISON RADIO-ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY
