Br Guy Consolmagno, SJ -'Why Do We Look Up?' -Von Hügel Lecture, Cambridge 2024

The Annual Von Hügel Lecture: 'Why Do We Look Up?: An Astronomer's Reflection on the Universe and the Call to Study It' by Br Guy Consolmagno, SJ
This lecture was recorded at the Von Hügel Institute for Critical Catholic Inquiry, St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, on 20 November 2024.
Br Guy Consolmagno, SJ is the Director of the Vatican Observatory. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he earned undergraduate and masters' degrees from MIT, and a PhD in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard and MIT, served in the US Peace Corps (Kenya), and taught university physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989. He joined the Vatican Observatory in 1993 and, in 2015, Pope Francis appointed Br Guy the director.
This year, the Von Hügel Lecture celebrated the centenary of Msgr Georges Lemaître’s 1924 tenure at St Edmund’s House. While at St Edmund’s House-now St Edmund’s College-Lemaître carried out some of the foundational work that led to what later came to be known as the ‘Big Bang’ theory. This lecture celebrated the interplay between science and faith, and how interdisciplinary study is a key ingredient for discovery.
The Von Hügel Institute for Critical Catholic Inquiry exists to promote mutual enrichment between the best of the secular academy and the Catholic traditions of theology, philosophy and ethics through events, research, and contributions to the public square. Our annual lecture showcases the best of this interdisciplinary thinking.
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