VATICAN (CNS): Pope Leo XIV celebrated the anniversary of the first crewed moon landing by peering through a the space telescope at the Vatican Observatory—located on the grounds of the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo—and calling the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 spaceflight mission on July 20.
US astronaut, Michael Collins, flew the command module around the moon while Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to land and walk on the lunar surface.
Pope Leo, who would have been 13-years-old when the lunar module, the Eagle, touched down, video-called the 95-year-old Aldrin late on July 20, “sharing with him the memory of this historic achievement—a testimony to human ingenuity,” the Vatican press office said.
They reflected together on Psalm 8, the office said, which marvels at the limitless grandeur of God, the smallness of human beings in creation and the amazing dignity and power that God has graciously bestowed upon them.
Pope Leo, who would have been 13-years-old when the lunar module, the Eagle, touched down, video-called the 95-year-old Aldrin late on July 20…
During the return flight back to Earth, Aldrin, a Presbyterian, had read two verses of Psalm 8 from the King James Bible in a radio communication with NASA’s mission control, saying, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou has ordained; What is man that thou art mindful of him?”
Pope Leo and Aldrin together “reflected on the mystery of creation, its greatness and its fragility,” the press office said, releasing a photo of the pope and Aldrin with his wife, Anca Faur, taken during their video call.
Aldrin then posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on @TheRealBuzz: “Anca and I were grateful and touched to receive the highest blessing today, from His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV on the 56th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.”
The astronaut wrote, “What an honour! We prayed for good health, long life, and prosperity for all humankind,”
The Vatican press office said Pope Leo blessed the astronaut, his family and his coworkers at the end of the call.
Pope St. Paul VI also visited the observatory the night of 20-21 July 20-1969, looking at the moon through its Schmidt telescope before he watched the actual landing and the first moon walk on television at the papal summer villa.
Messages from religious leaders—including Pope Paul were among the artifacts collected to be flown on the lunar lander, and they remain there to this day for posterity.
He also sent a message honouring and blessing the three astronauts after they landed on the moon, calling them “conquerors of the moon, pale lamp of our nights and our dreams.” He then met Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin at the Vatican on 16 October 1969.
