Sister Raffaella Petrini’s visit to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) in Tucson

Fruitful and continuous dialogue between faith and science

Sister Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, described  her visit to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (Vatt) in Mount Graham, Arizona (USA), on Saturday, March 16, 2024, as an opportunity “to tangibly appreciate the complexity of the new technology used by the Vatican Observatory, in collaboration with the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, to carry out long-term research programmes in the field of astronomy”.

The Observatory’s research group, she explained, “is carrying out numerous ongoing studies and fruitful international collaborations, becoming one of the largest and most modern centres for observational astronomy in the world”. This work, she noted, “is particularly important for Vatican City State, because it fulfils two important tasks: it contributes to scientific development in the field of astronomy, and promotes a fruitful and continuous dialogue between faith and science, two keystones of a true integral human development".

Sr. Petrini, who is a member of the Board of Directors of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, visited both the Alice P. Lennon Telescope and the Thomas J. Bannan astrophysics facility. She was accompanied by Jesuit Father Paul Gabor, Deputy Director of the Observatory for Tucson, and by John Lally and Chris Kennedy, The Foundation’s Development Manager and Treasurer.

The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) is an astronomical research complex consisting of two parts: the Alice P. Lennon telescope and the Thomas J. Bannan astrophysical facility. The Vatican Observatory Foundation owns a majority share of the Alice P. Lennon telescope, along with the University of Arizona, located in southeastern Arizona, where sky seeing conditions are among the best in the world.