Beyond Apollo 11: Fifty Years after the First Man on the Moon*

The Apollo 11 lunar mission was the namesake of a god in ancient Greek mythology who supported the world on his powerful shoulders. On 20 July 1969, the first human landing on the moon made an impact in the history of humankind. Notwithstanding the scientific and geopolitical background of such quest, it widened the perspective of the faithful of the Church in particular and the people of the world in general. St. Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) himself watched the moon landing from Castel Gandolfo which housed the Vatican Observatory. When astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) stepped down and made contact with the lunar surface, the pope clapped his hands and uttered: “We are close to you with our good wishes and with our prayers, together the whole Catholic Church.” He even send this message in space: “Pope Paul VI is speaking to you astronauts: Honor, greetings and blessings to you, conquerors of the moon.” The pope regarded such scientific feat as a recognition of the greatness of God’s handiwork. 

Furthermore, the moon landing may have contributed on how the Church accounted science in the 20th century. Ten years after the moon landing, St. Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) underscored the role and objectives of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (established in 1936): "The existence of this Pontifical Academy of Sciences, of which in its ancient ancestry Galileo was a member and of which today eminent scientists are members, without any form of ethnic or religious discrimination, is a visible sign, raised amongst the peoples of the world, of the profound harmony that can exist between the truths of science and the truths of faith..." 

In 1992, the Church formally apologized for silencing Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) in 1633 under threat of torture, then keeping him under house arrest for the rest of his life. St. Pope John Paul II expressed regret and asked for forgiveness on how the Galileo affair was handled. He then issued a declaration acknowledging the errors committed by the Catholic Church tribunal. 

By 1996, St. Pope John Paul II undoubtedly acknowledged the fact of evolution in human development. He said: "If there are apparent contradictions between the various scientific disciplines and those contained in the message of revelation… We know, in fact, that truth cannot contradict truth. It is remarkable how the theory of evolution has been progressively accepted by researchers following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge." 

In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI told members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: "Dialogue and cooperation between faith and science are urgently needed for building a culture that respects people and the planet.... Without faith and science informing each other, the great questions of humanity leave the domain of reason and truth, and are abandoned to the irrational, to myth, or to indifference, with great damage to humanity itself, to world peace and to our ultimate destiny..." 

The 50th anniversary of the moon landing must intensify our hope to explore further the universe which must lead humanity to praise God and appreciate His creation. No matter how far we have reached and how successful we have become, our achievements are just lunar dusts in comparison to God's greatness. From the moon, the earth was photographed; it must had been life-changing to know how small we are in creation. The new perspective gained from leaving Earth’s orbit gave humans a new insight into just how fragile our blue planet is. St. Pope Paul VI gave the Apollo 11 crew a bronze plaque, inscribed with words from Psalm 8: “O Lord our God, how great your name throughout the Earth.” 

Addressing the faithful on 21 July 2019, Pope Francis expressed hope that achieving such goal might inspire work toward even greater ones: "Dear brothers and sisters, fifty years ago, as if yesterday, man set foot on the moon, fulfilling an extraordinary dream. May the memory of that great step for humankind kindle the desire to advance together toward even greater aims: more dignity for the weak, more justice among peoples, more future for our common home." We should endeavor to always make "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" (Neil Armstrong) or rather, we paraphrase: "one small step for all, one leap of faith."