"This isn't the end; it's just the beginning," Angela Kopp said enthusiastically on the final full day of the 2026 ACME workshop. Ms. Kopp, a Science Specialist at Holy Cross Catholic School in Overland Park, KS, was one of 25 participants in at ACME--Astronomy for Catholics in Ministry and Education--a biennial weeklong seminar held at the Redemptorist Renewal Center outside of Tucson, AZ. This year's 25 participants included priests, a deacon, science teachers and catechists from around the country--and two from the United Kingdom. 

The latest bulletin of the IAU (International Astronomical Union) Working Group for Small Body Nomenclature contains some exciting news for scientists at the Vatican Observatory. Several asteroids co-discovered by Vatican astronomer Fr. Richard P. Boyle, SJ, together with his longtime collaborator K. Černis (of Vilnius, Lithuania), using the Vatican Observatory’s VATT telescope on Mount Graham, have received official names.

An outpouring of warmth, faith and popular tradition surrounds the great Christmas tree placed at the center of the Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo. Hand-modeled terracotta figures recall the birth of Jesus. It is a Mexican nativity scene, with an essential number of characters: the Child, Mary, Joseph, the three Magi, a shepherd, and an angel. They have simple yet highly expressive forms: faces absorbed in contemplation of the mystery, all leaning toward the manger surrounded by the ox and the donkey.

On Friday, October 31, as part of the Jubilee celebrations, the Vatican Observatory, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), presented two special events dedicated to the beauty and mystery of the universe.