Catholic World News News Feature

Controversial Jesuit astronomer replaced at Vatican observatory August 21, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI has named a new director for the Vatican Observatory. Father José Gabriel Funes will succeed a controversial American, Father George Coyne.

Father Funes, an Argentine Jesuit, is already a member of the Vatican Observatory team. The outgoing Father Coyne, also a Jesuit, has been director of the Observatory for more than 25 years, and now steps down at the age of 73.

Last year Father Coyne drew worldwide attention for his public comments on the topics of evolution and the theory of intelligent design. In an August 2005 column for the London Tablet the Jesuit astronomer criticizes arguments put forward by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn questioning the Darwinian theory of evolution. A few weeks later, speaking at a conference in Florida, Father Coyne said that "intelligent design isn't science, even if it pretends to be."

The Vatican Observatory was established by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 to advance astronomical knowledge and to demonstrate the Church's support for the physical sciences. Originally it was located at Castel Gandolfo, near the Pope's summer residence. In 1981, because of the smog that obscures viewing of the sky near Rome, the main observatory was moved to Arizona, and Father Funes was spending most of his time there.

However the headquarters of the Observatory, along with the affiliated museum and library, remain at Castel Gandolfo. Each year the Observatory organizes courses for university students there, showing a particular preference for young astronomers from the developing world.

Papal support for astronomy can be traced back to 1579, when Pope Gregory XIII sponsored the study of planetary orbits. That study culminated in the reform of the calendar-- which is known as the "Gregorian" calendar in tribute to the Pontiff.