Jesuit astrophysicist Fr Pavel Gabor says the Vatican Observatory attests that “science is not against God” – and the nexus of science and spirituality invites humankind to contemplate the Lord’s wondrous works. Source: Catholic Review.
Fr Gabor, vice director of the Vatican Observatory Research Group in Tucson, Arizona, shared his insights in a June 25 keynote address at the 2025 United States Catholic Media Conference, held on June 24-27 in Phoenix.
At a lunch sponsored by the Pontifical Mission Societies USA, Fr Gabor addressed the question, “Why Does the Pope Have an Astrophysics Research Institute?”
Fr Gabor said many are unaware of the Vatican Observatory’s existence, even though it’s one of the oldest astronomical institutes in the world.
The observatory traces its roots to the solar calendar reform of Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, which corrected a widening gap between the calendar and the seasons incurred by the Julian calendar. With a papal committee studying the scientific data necessary for the reform, the Vatican’s commitment to ongoing astronomical research was born.
Early observatories founded by the Vatican ultimately led Pope Leo XIII in 1891 to formally refound the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory), the predecessor for which had operated from 1789-1821.
However, Fr Gabor said, light pollution that accompanied Rome’s expansion over time compelled Pope Pius XI to move the observatory to Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence, about 25 kilometres from Rome.
In 1981, light pollution again prompted the building of a second research centre, the Vatican Observatory Research Group in Tucson, where Fr Gabor is based. The Vatican teamed up with the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory to construct the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mount Graham, Arizona, a project completed in 1993.
The VATT survived the 2017 Frye Fire, sparked by a lightning strike on Mount Graham, with Fr Gabor showing photos and video of the smoke obscuring the structures.
However, he said, the VATT has at times been engulfed by the flames of controversy, thanks to the work of conspiracy theorists, some of whom have asserted the site is a “portal to another dimension on Mount Graham”.
But Scripture and nature – what theologians have traditionally called “God’s two books” – tell a more plausible and profound story, Fr Gabor said.
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Science and the stars a call to the spiritual, says Vatican astrophysicist (By Gina Christina, Catholic Review)
