An asteroid will be named after Pope Leo XIII: here’s why

(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 05.01.2026).- The Vatican Observatory has inscribed part of its own history into the heavens. Four newly named asteroids now bear the names of figures closely tied to the institution’s scientific and ecclesial heritage, reaffirming a message the Catholic Church has long sought to communicate: that faith and rigorous scientific inquiry are not adversaries, but partners in the search for truth.

The announcement, recently published in the official bulletin of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Small Body Nomenclature, confirms that the asteroids “(858334) Gioacchinopecci,” “(836955) Lais,” “(836275) Pietromaffi,” and “(688696) Bertiau” have been formally designated. All four were discovered through a collaboration between Lithuanian astronomer Kazimieras Černis and Jesuit Father Richard Boyle of the Vatican Observatory, using the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) located on Mount Graham in Arizona.

At the center of this celestial tribute stands “Gioacchinopecci,” named after Pope Leo XIII, born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci. His legacy is inseparable from the modern rebirth of the Vatican Observatory in 1891, following the loss of the Papal States and the associated scientific infrastructure, including the earlier observatory led by Jesuit astronomer Angelo Secchi atop the Church of St. Ignatius in Rome.

Leo XIII’s vision was explicit. In his motu proprio Ut Mysticam, he rejected the narrative—already widespread in his time—that the Church opposed scientific progress. On the contrary, he insisted that the Church had always embraced and promoted “true and solid science.” Astronomy, in particular, held a privileged place in this vision, as a discipline capable of elevating the human mind toward contemplation of the cosmos and, ultimately, of its Creator.

That intellectual and spiritual synthesis has shaped the Observatory’s evolution. From its early domes visible above the Vatican walls and the Tower of the Winds, to its later relocation in the 1930s to Castel Gandolfo due to increasing light pollution in Rome, and finally to the construction of the VATT in the dark skies of Arizona in the 1990s, the institution has continually adapted in order to pursue high-level research.

The three other asteroids commemorate figures who contributed decisively to that mission. “Lais” honors Giuseppe Lais, a 19th-century priest and astronomer who served as vice-director of the Observatory for three decades and participated in the ambitious international “Carte du Ciel” project, an early effort to map the stars photographically. “Pietromaffi” recalls Cardinal Pietro Maffi, Archbishop of Pisa and president of the Observatory from 1904 until 1931, who played a crucial role in entrusting its leadership to the Jesuits, ensuring scientific rigor that continues to define its work today. “Bertiau” pays tribute to Florent Constant Bertiau, a Belgian Jesuit astronomer who founded the Observatory’s Computing Center in 1965 and pioneered the use of computational analysis in astrophysics, including studies on the structure of the Milky Way and the growing challenge of light pollution.

The naming of asteroids follows a precise and highly regulated process. Upon discovery, celestial bodies receive provisional designations based on the date of observation. Only after their orbits are calculated with sufficient precision—allowing reliable prediction of their trajectories—are they assigned permanent numbers. Of the roughly 1.3 million known asteroids, about 850,000 have reached this stage. Only then may discoverers propose names, which are reviewed under strict guidelines before official approval.

This latest recognition also places the Vatican Observatory within a broader tradition. Other pontiffs have been honored in the asteroid belt, including Pope Gregory XIII—commemorated as “(560974) Ugoboncompagni” for his reform of the calendar—and Pope Benedict XVI, whose birth name inspired the designation “(8661) Ratzinger.”

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