Scientific discovery and knowledge are meant to benefit all of humanity, Pope Leo XIV told young astronomers yesterday. Source: CNS.
“Be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience, as best you can and however you can,” he told them during an audience at the Vatican.
The Pope spoke to dozens of young astronomy students and scholars who were taking part in a month-long summer school sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and held at the observatory’s headquarters in Castel Gandolfo, outside of Rome.
The summer program in astronomy and astrophysics, held every two years, accepts a small group of promising university and graduate students, mostly from developing nations, who are specialising in astronomical sciences.
This year’s program focused on exploring the universe with data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the telescope’s contributions to the study of the birth of stars, the formation and evolution of galaxies, and the origin of life in planetary systems.
Speaking in English, Pope Leo told them to “not hesitate to share the joy and the amazement born of your contemplation of the ‘seeds’ that, in the words of St Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe”.
“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,” he said.
The James Webb telescope is a “truly remarkable instrument,” he said.
The Pope highlighted the generosity of making the space telescope’s images available to the public.
He reminded the students they, too, have been given “the knowledge and training that can enable you to use this amazing instrument in order to expand our knowledge of the cosmos of which we are a tiny but meaningful part.”
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Sharing joy of discovery contributes to peace, pope tells astronomers (By Carol Glatz, CNS)
