Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno is to receive a prestigious scientific award by the American Astronomical Society next Thursday.
Br Consolmagno SJ is the first cleric to be awarded the Carl Sagan Medal “for outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public”.
He is the co-author of the book “Would You Baptise an Extra-Terrestrial,” the title of which recalls a homily by Pope Francis earlier this year when he said he would baptise a Martian "if they asked" in order to illustrate that no one should be excluded from the Church.
Br Consolmagno, a regular contributor to The Tablet, said that there used to be “a myth” that the Church was against science but that today there was greater understanding by scientists.
He told the US-based Here and Now website: “When I became a Jesuit, I sort of ‘came out of the closet’ as a churchgoer, I discovered so many of my friends and fellow scientists were also churchgoers.
He added: “The big mission we have is to convince the people in the pews that science is good. If I’m a missionary of anything I’m a missionary of science to the religious.”
The Vatican observatory was created in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII to show the world that the Church supported science.
Above: Br Guy holds a meteorite from the Vatican Observatory collection. Photo: CNS
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