Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary is a brief introduction to the relatively obscure group of the only scientists employed by the Catholic Church, the astronomers at the Vatican Observatory.

Working at the Vatican Observatory’s headquarters at the Pope’s summer palace in Castel Gondolfo, Italy and at its offices at the University of Arizona, these physicists, astronomers, mathematicians and other scientists seek to observe the Universe and relate it to their religious beliefs to broaden their understanding of both. Founded in its present form in 1891 as a symbol to show the church was not the enemy of science, the Observatory is staffed mostly by Jesuits, long known for their educational work and their efforts to follow their founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, who inspired his order by saying “above all, look for God in all things, including the discoveries of science.”

The contemporary Jesuit scientists not only perform research, but truly follow their educational heritage by running a summer school in astrophysics and observational astronomy for graduate students, regardless of faith. The video introduces viewers to the Observatory’s works and its origins in Galileo’s ideas, and on a more human scale, provides insight into the thoughts of two of its staff: George V. Coyne, the Observatory’s director and Guy Consolmagno, the Vatican’s meteorite curator.

Dialogues with Coyne and Consolmagno are sprinkled throughout, illustrating their thoughts on science and its relationship to religion; shorter interviews with colleagues, students, other Jesuits, philosophers, and astronomers add to the quality of the documentary. This video is strong in its portrayal of these unusual scientists and their mission, but is a bit weak in its organization as it feels a bit disjointed in the last third. The video quality, editing, and cinematography are all very good, with only one scene marred by a jiggling handheld camera. The sound was good, but had excessive hissing on many of the spoken “s” sounds. Captions identifying speakers were rarely used, but desired throughout and could have been helpful for some of the astronomical imagery and animation.

Recommended for any school that has studies matching the subject categories or that has a relationship to a religious institution.

Awards

• Platinum Best in Show, Aurora Awards
• Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series, Gemini Awards
• Gold Plaque, Chicago International Television Awards