CNA—Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, has spent the last 30 years staring at the sky. As the director of the Vatican Observatory, known informally as “the pope’s astronomer,” he has just published his 13th book — “A Jesuit’s Guide to the Stars: Exploring Wonder, Beauty, and Science,” which he said he wrote at the suggestion of Loyola Press. “I pulled together a lot of ideas, some of my own experience and some of the history of the Jesuits working on science,” he told “EWTN News Nightly” on Feb. 5. Consolmagno has been the director of the Vatican Observatory since 2015. He told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol that the observatory was officially established in 1891 to “show the world that the Church supports science. And we have been doing that ever since,” he said, adding that “we’re doing cutting-edge research, as we’re also carrying forth the message of how the heavens proclaim the glory of God.” Faith and Science In his book, Consolmagno disputes the idea that we can’t study science and also be people of faith. “If we believe that God created this universe, and if we believe that God so loved it that he sent his Son to become a part of it, then science becomes an act of growing closer to the Creator. In that way, it becomes an act of prayer,” he said. Many Jesuit scientists Consolmagno’s book explores how deeply involved the Jesuits are in astronomy and the history of that involvement. “There are about 60 craters on the moon or asteroids named for Jesuit scientists,” he told Sabol. “The...
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