30 october 2009
GREETING TO HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
for the
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY IN VATICAN CITY
Friday, 30 October 2009
By His Eminence Card. Giovanni Lajolo
President of the Governorship of Vatican City State
Holy Father,
On behalf of this international group of renowned astronomers that have come to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy in Vatican City, I would like to express our deep gratitude for granting us this special Audience.
Among the initiatives that have been promoted by the Vatican Observatory, the exhibition Astrum 2009 at the Vatican Museums in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) and the study week on Astrobiology at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that will be held in November, are the most significant.
I would also like to mention an editorial initiative no less significant. This year, besides the usual strictly scientific works, the Vatican Observatory has published a book for a wide audience with the evocative title: “The Heavens Proclaim - Astronomy and the Vatican”. The book has already been translated into Italian and published with the title “L’infinitamente grande – Astronomia e il Vaticano”. It is our desire to have it translated into as many languages as possible as a practical contribution to the history of the relations between Church and Christian faith on one side, and scientific research - astronomy in particular- on the other.
This morning, before coming here, we were able to enjoy a very illuminating and brilliant lecture at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences by Professor John Huchra, President of the American Astronomical Society.
Thanks to your generosity, Holy Father, the Vatican Observatory has new and comfortable facilities that will help the Vatican astronomers carry out their mission in collaboration with their colleagues. In your recent visit to the new headquarters, Your Holiness could appreciate the collection of meteorites, antique books, astrolabes, telescopes, and the area reserved for the Summer School, for conferences and visiting scholars.
Besides the visiting renowned astronomers, I am now also very pleased to introduce the friends and benefactors of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. They generously support the work of the Vatican Observatory in the United States, located on Mt. Graham, that works in collaboration with the University of Arizona.
Holy Father, in this year of astronomy we have listened attentively, with appreciation and gratitude, to your words during the Angelus of Sunday, December 21st, 2008, as well as to your homily on the feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord, 2009. We are here today with great attention to receive your words, and ask Your Holiness for your apostolic blessing. May God, the Almighty Creator help us to learn more about the Universe, the most marvelous gift from His loving kindness.
Thank you very much, Holy Father!