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Vatican Observatory
The Vatican Observatory () is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in the Roman College of Rome, the Observatory is now headquartered in Castel Gandolfo, Italy and operates a telescope at the Mount Graham International Observatory in the United States. The Director of the Observatory is Brother Guy Consolmagno, an American Jesuit. In 2008, the Templeton Prize was awarded to cosmologist Fr. Michał Heller, a Vatican Observatory Adjunct Scholar. In 2010, the George Van Biesbroeck Prize was awarded to former observatory director, the American Jesuit, Fr. George Coyne. History The Church has had a long-standing interest in astronomy, due to the astronomical basis of the calendar by which holy days and Easter are determined. For instance, the Gregorian Calendar, promulgated in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, was developed by Aloysius Lilius and later modified by Christoph Clavius at the Collegio Romano from astronomical dat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy See
The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop of the apostolic see, apostolic episcopal see of Diocese of Rome, Rome, and serves as the spiritual and administrative authority of the worldwide Catholic Church and Vatican City. Under international law, the Legal status of the Holy See, Holy See holds the status of a sovereign juridical entity. According to Sacred tradition, Catholic tradition and historical records, the Holy See was founded in the first century by Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. By virtue of the doctrines of Primacy of Peter, Petrine and papal primacy, papal primacy, it is the focal point of full communion for Catholics around the world. The Holy See is headquartered in, operates from, and exercises "exclusive dominion" over Vatican City, an independent c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregorian Calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years slightly differently to make the average calendar year 365.2425 days long rather than the Julian calendar's 365.25 days, thus more closely approximating the 365.2422-day tropical year, "tropical" or "solar" year that is determined by the Earth's revolution around the Sun. The rule for leap years is that every year divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are divisible by 100, except in turn for years also divisible by 400. For example 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was. There were two reasons to establish the Gregorian calendar. First, the Julian calendar was based on the estimate that the average solar year is exactly 365.25 days long, an overestimate of a li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francesco Denza
Francesco Denza (7 June 1834 – 14 December 1894) was an Italian meteorologist and astronomer. Biography Francesco Denza was born on 7 June 1834 in Naples. He joined the Barnabites at the age of sixteen, and during his theological course at Rome studied at the same time meteorology and astronomy under Angelo Secchi. From 1856 until 1890 he was attached to the Barnabite college at Moncalieri where he became widely known for his work in meteorology, a science which he advanced not merely by his personal observations and studies but also by the interest which he roused in it throughout Italy. In 1859 Denza founded the (Monthly Bulletin of Meteorology), which was continued until 1894, and established a meteorological observatory at Moncalieri; it was largely through his influence that similar observatories, more than 200 in number, were gradually built in various parts of Italy. The success which attended his efforts gave him a national reputation, and in 1866 Senator Matteucci and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carte Du Ciel
The Carte du Ciel (; literally, 'Map of the Sky') and the Astrographic Catalogue (or Astrographic Chart) were two distinct but connected components of a massive international astronomical project, initiated in the late 19th century, to catalogue and map the positions of millions of stars as faint as 11th or 12th stellar magnitude, magnitude. Twenty observatories from around the world participated in exposing and measuring more than 22,000 (glass) photographic plates in an enormous observing programme extending over several decades. Despite, or because of, its vast scale, the project was only ever partially successful – the Carte du Ciel component was never completed, and for almost half a century the Astrographic Catalogue part was largely ignored. However, the appearance of the Hipparcos Catalogue in 1997 has led to an important development in the use of this historical plate material. Origins and goals A vast and unprecedented international star-mapping project was ini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motu Proprio
In law, (Latin for 'on his own impulse') describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a document issued by the pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him.Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), s.v. motu proprio Such a document may be addressed to the whole church, to part of it, or to some individuals. The first papal was promulgated by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. It continues to be a common form of papal rescript, especially when establishing institutions, making minor changes to law or procedure, and when granting favours to persons or institutions. Catholic Church Effect An important effect of issuing a document in this way is that a rescript containing the clause is valid and produces its effect even in cases where fraud would ordinarily have vitiated the document, since the pope does not rely o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Apostle, Pius IX (his immediate predecessor), and Pope John Paul II, John Paul II. Born in Carpineto Romano, near Rome, Leo XIII is well known for his intellectualism and his attempts to define the position of the Catholic Church with regard to modern thinking. In his 1891 Papal encyclical, encyclical ''Rerum novarum'', Pope Leo outlined the Workers rights, rights of workers to a fair wage, Occupational safety and health, safe working conditions, and the formation of trade unions, while affirming the rights to property and Market economy, free enterprise, opposing both Atheism, atheistic socialism and ''laissez-faire'' capitalism. With that encyclical, he became popularly called the "Social Pope" and the "Pope of the Workers", also having cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of Sardinia, resulting in the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. Inspired by the rebellions in the 1820s and 1830s against the outcome of the Congress of Vienna, the unification process was precipitated by the Revolutions of 1848, and reached completion in 1870 after the capture of Rome and its designation as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Individuals who played a major part in the struggle for unification and liberation from foreign domination included King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy; politician, economist and statesman Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour; general Giuseppe Garibaldi; and journalist and politician Giuseppe Mazzini. Borrowing from the old Latin title '' Pater Patriae'' of the Roman emperors, the Italians gave to King Victor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sant'Ignazio
The Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius (, ) is a Latin Catholic titular church, of deaconry rank, dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, located in Rome, Italy. Built in Baroque style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as the chapel of the adjacent Pontifical Gregorian University, Roman College, which moved in 1584 to a new larger building and was renamed the Pontifical Gregorian University. It is one of the great 17th century preaching churches built by Counter-Reformation orders in the Centro Storico (the others being Church of the Gesù, The Gesù, also of the Jesuits, San Carlo ai Catinari of the Barnabites, Sant'Andrea della Valle of the Theatines, and the Santa Maria in Vallicella, Chiesa Nuova of the Oratory of St Philip Neri, Oratorians). History The opened very humbly in 1551, with an inscription over the door summing up its simple purpose: "''School of Grammar, Humanity, and Christian Doctrine. Free''". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angelo Secchi
Angelo Secchi (; 28 June 1818 – 26 February 1878) was an Italians, Italian Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest and astronomer from the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, Emilia. He was director of the observatory at the Pontifical Gregorian University (then called the Roman College) for 28 years. He was a pioneer in astronomical spectroscopy, and was one of the first scientists to state authoritatively that the Sun is a star. Biography Secchi was born in Reggio Emilia, where he studied at the Jesuit Gymnasium (school), gymnasium. At the age of 16, he entered the Society of Jesus, Jesuit Order in Rome. He continued his studies at the Roman College, and demonstrated great scientific ability. In 1839, he was appointed tutor of mathematics and physics at the college. In 1841, he became professor of physics at the Jesuit College in Loreto (AN), Loreto. In 1844, he began theology, theological studies in Rome, and was Holy Orders, ordained a priest o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ottaviano Nonni
Ottaviano Nonni (1536 – 6 August 1606), called Il Mascherino, was an Italian architect, sculptor, and painter born in Bologna. Apprentice of Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, he was active in Emilia and in Rome, where he had been living in the rione of Borgo, in the road still bearing his name (''Via del Mascherino''). He was the architect of the Quirinal Palace under Pope Gregory XIII. His other works include the churches of San Salvatore in Lauro (1591), Santa Maria in Transpontina, the Bandini Chapel in San Silvestro al Quirinale, and the oval plan-design for the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District (Italian language, Italian: ''La chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia'') is a 12th-century Titular church, titular church in Rome, Italy. It is in ''Borgo Santo Spirito'', a street which got its name fr .... He died in Rome in 1606. References * * 1536 births 1606 deaths 16th-century Italian architects Architects from Bologna Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregorian Tower
The Gregorian Tower () or Tower of the Winds () is a square tower and early modern observatory located above the Gallery of Maps, which connects the Villa Belvedere with the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. The tower was built between 1578 and 1580 to a design by the Bolognese architect Ottaviano Mascherino (who was credited with building the Apostolic Palace) mainly to promote the study of astronomy for the Gregorian Calendar Reform which was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII and promulgated in 1582. It was then also known as the Tower of Winds. The tower was also called "Specola Astronomica Vaticana", a reference to the Vatican Observatory. Four stages of progressive development have occurred since it was first established. The tower was an edifice of great value for astronomical observations made using a sundial as they provided essential confirmation of the need to reform the Julian calendar. Early history The first stage of building of the tower, as recorded by Leo X ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all grades of schooling. Its chairs of philosophy and theology received Papal approval in 1556, making it the first institution founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). In 1584, the Roman College was given a new home by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was renamed the Gregorian University. It had distinguished scholars in ecclesiastical fields as well as in natural science and mathematics. Only the theology and philosophy departments of the Gregorian survived the political turmoil in Italy after 1870. Today the Gregorian has an international faculty and around 2750 students from over 150 countries. History Founding Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, established a School of Grammar, Humanities, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
