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Pope Leo XIV marks 56th anniversary of moon landing with observatory visit, call to Buzz Aldrin
This was Pope Leo's first visit to the observatory, founded in 1891 by Leo XIII. The first vision of it, however, can be traced back to the establishment by Pope Gregory XIII of a commission aimed at studying the scientific data and implications of the calendar reform that took place in 1582.
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The Vatican Observatory has generated top-notch research from its scientist-clerics, drawing academics to its meteorite collection, which includes bits of Mars and is considered among the world's best.
Later Sunday, the pope called astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who shared with Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins the historic 1969 moonwalk.
'This evening, 56 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, I spoke with the astronaut Buzz Aldrin,' Pope Leo, the first U.S. born Pope, wrote on his X account. 'Together we shared the memory of a historic feat, a testimony to human ingenuity, and we reflected on the mystery and greatness of Creation.'
Pope Leo then blessed the astronaut, his family and his collaborators. Aldrin, 95, is the last living astronaut of the historic Apollo 11 mission. He earned a doctorate in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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There are a few precedents of papal calls to 'space.'
In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI rang the space station and asked about the future of the planet and the environmental risks it faced.
Before Benedict, Pope Paul VI sent a radio message to astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins after their moonwalk, calling them 'conquerors of the Moon.'
Although Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon, Aldrin followed him down the ladder of the Eagle Lander.
'He gazed at the lunar landscape and spontaneously remarked to Houston, 'Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation,' according to Aldrin's official website.
FILE - The reflections of astronaut Neil Armstrong, the U.S. flag, the lunar module and a television camera are seen in the face mask of astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin when his picture was made by Armstrong as they walked across the surface of the moon, July 20, 1969. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP, File)
Neil Armstrong/Associated Press
