After praying the Sunday Angelus at his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, Leo headed to the astronomical observatory located in the Pontifical Villas, where he took a close look at the telescopes that have supported celestial exploration from a faith-based perspective for decades

The pontiff was accompanied by astronomers and students participating in the traditional summer school organized by the observatory

This was Pope Leo`s first visit to the observatory, founded in 1891 by Leo XIII. The first vision of it, however, can be traced back to the establishment by Pope Gregory XIII of a commission aimed at studying the scientific data and implications of the calendar reform that took place in 1582

The Vatican Observatory has generated top-notch research from its scientist-clerics, drawing academics to its meteorite collection, which includes bits of Mars and is considered among the world`s best

Later Sunday, the pope called astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who shared with Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins the historic 1969 moonwalk

"This evening, 56 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, I spoke with the astronaut Buzz Aldrin," Pope Leo wrote on his X account. "Together we shared the memory of a historic feat, a testimony to human ingenuity, and we reflected on the mystery and greatness of Creation"

Pope Leo then blessed the astronaut, his family and his collaborators. There are a few precedents of papal calls to "space"

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI rang the space station and asked about the future of the planet and the environmental risks it faced

Before Benedict, Pope Paul VI sent a radio message to astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins after their moonwalk, calling them "conquerors of the Moon"