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vatican astronomer
Saturday, 7 December, 2002 11:42 AM
From:
"mikeandmarjo@yahoo.com.au" <mikeandmarjo@yahoo.com.au>
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On Tuesday, December 3, 2002, at 09:50  AM, M. Sentinella wrote:

> could Guy please tell me his opinion on the imminent catastrophic
> earthchanges precipitated by a comet or a group of comets with a
> close orbit to the sun? Presently, the earth is reacting with extreme
> weather events and the solar maximum has extended by two years. It
> seems we are in for a cataclysm, similar to the Exodus and the flood.
> Any views on this welcome...
>

Collisions of small objects (meteorites) with the Earth happen all the
time. And certainly several observatories are looking for asteroids or
comets, whether or not they may some day be on a collision course. But
there is no scientific evidence of a an unusual collection of comets
approaching the Sun, or a planet-sized object approaching the Earth, or
a comet or asteroid on a collision course with Earth, or any of the
other such rumored cosmic catastrophe.

No one at the Vatican Observatory is working on studying any such
object, nor is anyone else at any other major observatory that I know
of. This is just another one of those stories that get spread on the
Internet.

(Using the weather as a sign of such disasters is always problematic,
since climate and weather are so irregular and difficult to predict.
The norm is that there is no norm. No matter what it does, it seems
unusual. When was the last time you heard someone say, "Boy, the
weather sure has been normal this year?")

The attractions of these Internet "urban legends" is the lure that they
might be  "secrets" that are somehow being hidden from the general
public -- and we can feel cleverer than our neighbor for knowing them.
But in fact, true science (like true religion) operates out in the
open, in public, for everyone to see. There is no "hidden knowledge."
But there is a lot of hard work required to truly understand what has
been learned. Meanwhile, if the end of the world should come tomorrow
or a million years from now, we'll all find out about it at the same
time.

Indeed, Catholic tradition has a very strong stand against such "end of
the world" prophesies. Read scripture such as Mark 13:32-33, which
says, "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you
do not know when the time will come..." and the latter half of Luke,
Chapter 17, c.f. Luke 17:20, "The kingdom of God is not coming with
things that can be observed..."

The tradition of the Church has always been opposed to a vain search
for any kind of "secret knowledge" (the heresy of Gnosticism). Rather,
it is clear that we should be prepared to encounter God at any moment,
keeping His commandments and living a life worthy of what He has
promised all His children. Given that way of living, there is no point
in searching the heavens for secret "signs" of an impending
supernatural catastrophe.

Instead of looking for such "signs," we study creation as our way of
taking part in the activity of the Creator, to glorify and praise His
expression of Himself in the truth and beauty of everything He has
made.

Br. Guy

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Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ
Specola Vaticana
V-00120
Vatican City State
(+39) 06 698 63364/85266
fax:  06 698 84671

Vatican Observatory Research Group
Steward Observatory, U. of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721     USA
home: (520) 795 1694
fax:  (520) 326 0756
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