Moon landing shows need for more openness

As the world celebrates the anniversary of the moon landing people should remember the “gruesome” situation many migrants face along the Earth’s man-made borders, a leading theologian and academic has said.

It was July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.

Prof. Eamonn Conway of Mary Immaculate College said: “We haven’t erected borders in outer space, at least not yet.

“This week, as we celebrate Apollo 11, however, we have gruesome images of men, women and children in holding camps along human-made borders in various parts of planet earth.

“The journey outwards to explore various parts of God’s Creation coincides with an equally challenging journey inward in which as a race we come to cherish the inalienable dignity of every living creature.”

Then-Pope, St Paul VI showed great interest in the moon landing and watched it on television.

This interest is echoed by Pope Francis who has met astronauts and spoke to some while they were at the International Space Station in 2017.

“The vastness of the universe fills us with a profound sense of wonder, as contemporary astronauts said to Pope Francis when they spoke live to him from the International Space Station,” said Prof. Conway.

“The only thing you can conclude, they said, is that love is the force behind the universe.”

Tribute

St Paul VI met the astronauts who landed on the moon – Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin – at the Vatican in October 1969, he commended their work saying it pays “tribute to the capacity of modern man to reach beyond himself, to reach beyond human nature, to attain the perfection of achievement made possible by his God-given talent”.

St Paul VI regularly discussed the Apollo mission in his general audiences commending the accomplishments of science and technology, but, similar to Pope Francis now, always brought focus back to God.

Although attention was drawn to the moon, he said in July 1969, it should also provoke questions about human life and identity.