Visits to the Vatican Observatory
Relations between scientists and the Church have not always been easy. So much so that Galileo was condemned in 1633 for defending heliocentrism. It was not until 1992 and a speech by John Paul II that a famous error was officially recognized. Things have changed since then. In the 20th century, the Belgian canon Georges Lemaître developed his famous Big Bang theory. In 1930, the Vatican opened its observatory in Castel Gandolfo. Today, the Holy Father has become a privileged partner in astronomical research. Direction: the cosmos.