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Chart showing asteroids named after Jesuits. | Br. Robert Macke S.J./Vatican Observatory

Newly-discovered Asteroids Named after Jesuits — and a Pope

Feb 21, 2023

The Vatican Observatory announced this week the naming of four newly-discovered asteroids after notable Catholics, including Pope Gregory XIII, who began the tradition of papal astronomers and observatories.

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Pope Francis delivers his Angelus address via a video livestream from his Casa Santa Marta residence within the Vatican due to a cold on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

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Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer and gives an address from the chapel of Casa Santa Marta on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, at the Vatican. The pope delivered his marks indoors due to the intense cold, combined with cold symptoms that have manifested in recent days, the Holy See Press Office said. / Credit: Vatican Media

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Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE). Credit: CBCE

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Members of the envisaged Association of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe (ACBC-MAZAZI) and Apostolic Nuncio in Zambia and Malawi, Archbishop Gian Luca Perici (in white). Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

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Christmas lights line a street in Rome, Italy, Dec. 17, 2024. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

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Nigerian Christian mother of five Rhoda Jatau was acquitted of blasphemy charges after a two-and-a-half-year legal battle. / Credit: Photo courtesy of ADF International

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Blessed Jacques-Désiré Laval (right) and Bishop Jean Michaël Durhône (right). Credit: Catholic Diocese of Port Louis

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Pope Francis addresses cardinals and senior Vatican officials during his annual Christmas speech to the Roman Curia, Dec. 21, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

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Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE). Credit: CBCE

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Members of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL). Credit: The Calabash Newspaper/Facebook

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Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg in Germany. / Credit: Magdeburg Diocese

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Pope Francis prays during Mass at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

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