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Vatican Observatory

Vatican Observatory

Under the dome of the Vatican Observatory
One of several Vatican astronomers
The view outside the Vatican Observatory
An archival image of a church official gazing at the stars in the Vatican Observatory
Our film team learning the inner workings of the Vatican Observatory
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Pagan Graveyard
Pope's Parchment
Mended Mummy
Fig Leaf Campaign
Trojan Whistleblower
Sistine Chapel
Blood & Graffiti
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6 Comments
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Why does the Vatican have its own observatory?

And why do Jesuit astronomers believe aliens can be our friends?

When Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbits the sun, the Pope put him under house arrest for spreading an idea contrary to Catholic dogma. A later Pope tried to heal this rift between science and theology by directing the construction of an observatory within the Vatican.

Today, the Vatican Observatory is staffed by Jesuit astronomers. One of their missions is to search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.

They believe the words of a Catholic saint suggest that extraterrestrials can become our friends.

Who is this saint?  And what did he say about peaceful coexistence between humans and extraterrestrials?

To discover the answers we invite you to watch our Web Exclusive Video: Vatican Observatory.

6 Comments

George • #13 • 2018-02-24 10:45:11
Doesn\'t the bible say the Earth is flat and that it is being held up by two pillars? The vatican knows very well the bible is made up by man. Only man is so dumb to think that the earth was flat. Pope knows the bible isn\'t real so of course they

D~R • #31 • 2018-02-24 10:45:11
@ #13: quote the biblical section you are referring to, or are you just wanting to pass on a rumour of something you might have heard or decided to make up?

jkghelper • #34 • 2018-02-24 10:45:11
@ #31: Ancient Israel imagined the earth to be a flat disk (Isa 42.5) resting on a foundation or pillars (Job 9.6). It is surrounded by the ocean (Pss 24.2; 136.6). It has four corners (Isa 11.12; Ezek 7.2; job 37.3; 38.13) and an edge (Isa 24.36) or

stefano • #43 • 2018-02-24 10:45:11
@ #13: No...the Bible doesn\'t say that the earth is flat...what you\'re quoting or saying about the earth held up with pillars is from ancient mythological sources; neither Christian nor Jewish. One thing that I\'ve come to discover in my walk in th

OscarF • #47 • 2018-02-24 10:45:11
Coppernicus, Mendel, Georges LeMeitre, all Catholic Clergymen, and scientific innovators...Coppernicus changed the Universe form an earth-centered Universe to a Helio-centric universe, Fr. Menel is credited with being the father of modern gentics,

joyful258 • #103 • 2018-02-24 10:45:11
@ #13: the Bible NEVER said the world is flat that\'s Greek and Roman mythology. Before making dimwitted comments read the Bible yourself