Space telescope images fill us with wonder and joy, Pope Leo tells astrophysicists (Vatican Press Office)

Pope Leo XIV received participants in the Vatican Observatory’s Summer School of Astrophysics and reflected on the summer school’s theme, “Exploring the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope.”

The Pope said that the “poetic and religious imagination” of the biblical authors “pondered what the moment of creation must have been like, when ‘the stars shone in their watches and rejoiced; and their Creator called them and they said, “Here we are!”, shining with gladness for him who made them’ (Baruch 3:34).”

The Pope asked, “In our own day, do not the James Webb images also fill us with wonder, and indeed a mysterious joy, as we contemplate their sublime beauty?”

“Do not hesitate to share the joy and the amazement born of your contemplation of the ‘seeds’ that, in the words of Saint Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe,” the Pope told the astrophysicists. “The more joy you share, the more joy you create, and in this way, through your pursuit of knowledge, each of you can contribute to building a more peaceful and just world.”