Pope Leo XIV speaks by video call with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and his wife Anca Faur, from Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on July 20, 2025. / Credit: Holy See Press Office
Rome Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).
PopeLeoXIVmarkedthe56thanniversaryoftheApollo11moonlandingwithavideocalltoU.S.astronautBuzzAldrinandavisittotheVaticanObservatory,locatedonthepapalestateofCastelGandolfo,wherehehasbeenstayingfortwoweeks.
AccordingtotheVatican,thepontiff’sJuly20callwiththe95-year-oldBuzzAldrin,thelastsurvivingApollo11crewmember,includedreminiscingonthehistoric1969landingandmeditatingtogetheronthe“mystery,greatness,andfragility”ofGod’screationasdescribedinPsalm8.
Earlierintheday,LeovisitedtheVatican’sinternationally-recognizedobservatory,calledtheSpecolaVaticana,wherehewasabletolookthroughtheastronomicalcenter’shistorictelescopes.
TheVaticanObservatoryhasbeenlocatedonthepapalestateofCastelGandolfo,around18milessoutheastofRome,sincethe1930s,butthehistoryoftheinstitutiondatestothe18thcentury.Afterseveralyearsofclosure
