Can you see this man wearing Spock ears at a Trek convention?
You might!
He’s a self-confessed sci-fi fan who works for the Vatican. In fact, he’s the Vatican’s “curator of meteorites.” Dr. Guy Consolmagno also recently gave an interview with Astrobiology Magazine in which he discussed all manner of interesting things (and apparently frustrated the less-than-fully-friendly-to-Christianity interviewer who talked to him).
Many folks don’t know it, but the Vatican’s interest in astronomy has continued down to today and the Holy See has a number of astronomers on its payroll. It also maintains an observatory that’s basically in my back yard (well, in the state of Arizona, anyway).
In the interview, Consolmagno talks about the Vatican astronomy program and is refreshingly open about it, and is willing to kick back as good as he gets kicked. A curialista he ain’t. Consider these exchanges:
Interviewer: And why does the Vatican fund this research?
Consolmagno: There’s a political reason. It’s a simple one, that they want the world to know that the Church isn’t afraid of science, that they like science, that science is great, this is our way of seeing how God created the universe, and they want to make as strong a statement as possible that truth doesn’t contradict truth, that if you have faith, then you’re not going to ever be afraid of what science is going to come up with. Because it’s true.
And the one time in history that they screwed up on this, the Galileo affair, the Church was wrong. And we’ve admitted it was wrong. How many times has science abused the Church? How often have you heard a scientist apologize to the Church? . . .
Consolmagno: One of the nice things about being paid by the Vatican is that I don’t have to worry about NASA politics. I don’t have to write grant proposals. I don’t have to find out what’s the flavor of the month this month. I can do anything I want.
Interviewer: You don’t have to worry about Vatican politics?
Consolmagno: Nope. They barely know we exist. My instructions when I arrived there were: do good science, period.
He also seems to know how to have a good time:
Interviewer: What do you hope to get out of being here at the Astrobiology Science Conference?
Consolmagno: Oh, having a good time. And, fundamentally, that’s why we do science, because it’s really enjoyable. . . .
In addition, in some way, I’m waving the Church flag. Just by walking around with this badge that says “Vatican Observatory,” I’m reminding people that, yes, there is indeed a religious aspect, and indeed, an ethical aspect to science.
Consolmagno has a good sense of humor, and it shows in the article. He’s got a number of interesting and thoughtful things to say, including addressing the perennial question of what the Chuch would think if we had proof of extraterrestrial intelligence.
This guy, Guy, gave a great interview! Maybe you could see about getting him on a Catholic Answers Live program, Jimmy.
Ya…Adam had a great idea…getting him to come on Catholic Answers Live would be cool.
I’m with Adam and Billy, i’d love to hear him.
oh btw, Adam, great website – you are very gifted!
Jeff, Thanks!
Thanks for the suggestion, y’all. I’ll see what I can get put in motion.
Yes, do get him on the show if possible. Brother Guy was the speaker at a local observatory-Custer Institute, last year and my son (15), my daughter (10) and my husband loved his talk. He cleared up a lot of the misconceptions about Galileo. He described the role of the astronomer in the Catholic Church.