It is the 50th anniversary of the arrival of man on the moon, this event so transcendent for humanity was witnessed by more than 600 million people, among them Saint Paul VI.
The Osservatore Romano, recalls this ephemeris, in what was a historical moment that marked the world. Marcello Filotei remembers July 20 when the astronauts reached the moon
“Science fiction came true on July 20, 1969, when American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon they had reached after four days of travel aboard Apollo 11. The third member of the mission, Michael Collins had bad luck, even though he said no.”
Filotei remembers that Collins was the only one who could pilot the command module, and had to stay in orbit while the other two jumped to the lunar surface while the world watched them in worldview. It was necessary, without him, the mission would not have succeeded, but it “should not have been easy to stay away like Moses to contemplate the” promised Moon “without being able to reach it. In each orbit for 48 minutes he remained out of radio contact with the Earth, the emotions he felt, he reported, were not of fear or loneliness, but of “consciousness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, almost exaltation.” In any case, he continued: “It is from the time of Adam that no one has known such human loneliness.
The time to go down to the moon
The other two astronauts, took more time than expected to leave the shuttle, “because the backpack that was behind them to ensure their survival was too large to easily pass through the hatch,” says Filotei, after having collected more than twenty kilograms of stones and to have planted the flag, in fact they only managed to nail it some centimeters because the ground was particularly hard, they returned to the ship.
Before the wonders of God, what is man?
Armstrong and Aldrin before returning to the ship, left on the lunar surface a gold plaque on which was recorded Psalm 8: “When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you formed, I say: What is man, that you may have his memory, and the son of man, that you may visit him? You have made him a little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him master over the works of your hands; You put everything under his feet. We are close to you with our good wishes and prayers. Together, with all the Catholic Church, Pope Paul VI salutes you.
Pope Paul VI wanted this message on the moon
The message to the cosmos had been entrusted to him by Paul VI, who had already directed his thoughts to the mission a week before. It was July 13 when Pope Montini emphasized that the moment was “beyond the descriptive elements of this unique and wonderful fact.” History was being made and what surprised the Pope most was “to see that it is not about dreams”. “Science fiction becomes reality,” he said, but did not stop there, but captured a particular aspect of the mission: “If we consider the organization of brains, activities, instruments, economic means, with all the studies, experiments, The attempts, the feat, the admiration turns into reflection and the reflection is curved on the man, the world, the civilization, from where sprout novelties of such wisdom and such power “.
Once again the usual questions reappeared: “Who is capable of doing so much? so small, so fragile, so similar to the animal, that it does not change and does not surpass by itself the limits of its natural instincts, and so superior, so master of things, so victorious in time and space? About us? Six hundred million people saw the moon live. The intuition of Paul VI drew attention to the hand of man, placing “this creature of God, even more than the mysterious Moon, at the center of this journey.”
Message from Pope Paul VI to Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins, astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission.
Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will!
We, humble representatives of that Christ who, coming to us from the depths of the divinity, has made this blessed voice echo in the firmament, of which we echo today, repeating it as a festive hymn from all our terrestrial globe, from the confines of human existence, and even the breadth of space without limits and new destinations. Glory to God.
And honor to you, men who made the great space company possible! Honor to the responsible men, to the scholars, to the ideologues, to the organizers, to the operators! Honor to them who have made this daring flight possible. Honor all of you who are involved. Honor to you those who lead such prodigious devices; to you whose works extend to the skies the audacious dominion of man. Honor, greetings and blessing.
Honour, greetings and blessings!
Here, from His Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Pope Paul the Sixth is speaking to you astronauts.
Honour, greetings and blessing to you, conquerors of the Moon, pale lamp of our nights and our dreams! Bring to her, with your living presence, the voice of the spirit, a hymn to God, our Creator and our Father.
We are close to you, with our good wishes and with our prayers. Together with the whole Catholic Church, Paul the Sixth salutes you.
Source: Vaticanews.va / Author: Patricia Ynestroza-Vatican City
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