On 1 April 2026, four astronauts lifted off from a launch pad at the John F. Kennedy Space Center for a ten-day journey into outer space. The lunar mission was accompanied by great anticipation and excitement. The launch began with words that sounded almost liturgical: “Here we go. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. RS-25 engines running. Four. Three. Two. One. Booster ignition. And liftoff! The crew of Artemis II is on its way to the Moon – humanity’s next great journey begins!”
Five days later, the spacecraft flew around the Moon. It was the first human journey to the Moon since the Apollo missions of the early 1970s. The mission was successful, and the astronauts splashed down safely in the ocean on 10 April 2026. The flight was part of the Artemis programme, which aims to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon. If the programme succeeds, we may witness the creation of the first lunar base within the next decade.
During the Artemis mission, humanity was also remembering another heavenly journey. The launch took place during Holy Week, and the lunar flyby occurred on Easter Monday. Christians throughout the world recalled Christ’s journey, in which he was “lifted up from the earth” so that he might “draw all people” to himself (cf. Jn 12:32). He descended into the depths of the underworld on Holy Saturday and rose from the dead to inaugurate a new humanity (1 Pet. 3:19; 2 Cor. 5:17).
Journey to the Moon and Journey to Heaven
A journey to the Moon through science and technology may appear entirely different from our journey toward heaven through faith, hope, and love. Indeed, they are different journeys. Yet when speaking about spaceflight and other scientific achievements, it is difficult to avoid religious language. The immense vastness of outer space and the incomprehensible minuteness of the atomic world evoke a sense of infinity that inspires wonder even in the least religious of people.
On the other hand, the first Gentiles to encounter Jesus after his birth were wise men—astrologers and observers of the stars—who found Christ by following the heavens (Matt. 2:1–12). Science cannot remain separate from faith, nor can faith remain separate from science.
Our culture often claims that faith and science are opposites. Religion is easily regarded as a realm of superstition and blind belief—something best confined to private life—while science is considered to be based on objective evidence. Conversely, believers can become defensive toward the advances of the natural sciences and their abuses. Yet such an opposition is not found in Scripture, where “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1), nor—dare I say it—in the history of science.
During the first lunar landing on 20 July 1969, astronaut Buzz Aldrin received Holy Communion before stepping onto the surface of the Moon. The first food consumed on the Moon was the Eucharist. During this year’s Artemis flyby, astronaut Victor Glover remarked: “As we continue to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries here on Earth—and that is love. Christ said, in response to the question of the greatest commandment, that we are to love God with all that we are.”[1]
For these astronauts, the awe inspired by space travel could not be separated from the worship of God.
Faith and Science Are Not Enemies
When we stop to think about it, this should not surprise us. When we study nature—when we truly pause before it—our hearts are moved by the intricacy of the human body, the blossoming of trees in spring, mountains, planets, stars, and galaxies. It is as though the entire world were a gateway to something greater, if only we take the time to contemplate it. “When I look at your heavens … what are human beings that you are mindful of them?” (Ps. 8:3–4).
In our tradition, the idea that all creation reflects God in some way is central. God is goodness itself, justice, beauty, truth, and life. Created beings participate in God’s being and are good, just, beautiful, true, and alive only insofar as they resemble him. Therefore, the created world is the first evangelist, crying out: “We did not make ourselves!”
Saint Thomas Aquinas expresses it this way: “Creatures do not, in themselves, withdraw us from God, but rather lead us to him; for ‘the invisible things of him are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made’ (cf. Rom. 1:20). If they draw people away from God, the fault lies in their misuse.”[2]
If Scripture and the Church teach so clearly that faith and science are friends of truth, why do we think they are opposed? In my view, both are evidence-based, but they differ in the kind of evidence they require. Natural science investigates the laws and regularities of impersonal nature. Experiments must be repeatable and publicly verifiable. Faith, on the other hand, is a way of life oriented toward the promise of a Person—Christ himself. The evidence of faith is the activity of this Person in history: the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
Science studies recurring, law-like, and impersonal phenomena, whereas faith concerns the unique action of a personal God. Conflict arises when we confuse these different forms of evidence and attempt to reduce one to the other.
What Does This Mean for Christians?
What does this discussion mean for our Christian life here and now? Above all, Christian charity cannot ignore “the knowledge of the world.” In his encyclical Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis reminds us that love must also be intelligent and informed:
“Charity needs the light of truth that we constantly seek; ‘that light is both the light of reason and the light of faith’, without relativism. It also implies the development of the sciences and their indispensable contribution in finding the surest and most practical means of attaining the desired results. When the good of others is at stake, good intentions are not enough” (FT 185).
Space missions teach us that great things are difficult. They also teach us that great things are worth the effort. What could be greater than love? Why, then, do we expect it to be easier than a journey to the Moon? Without God’s grace, loving is surely more difficult than even the most exact science, because love comes from God.
Therefore, we must always turn to the throne of grace if we hope to succeed in loving. It also means that we should possess the same discipline and self-sacrifice as the scientists and engineers who worked to make a lunar mission successful. The work of love is even more important.
Let us look at the dedication with which people build this earthly city. Let us look at the commitment of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and activists. May it inspire us to be even more persistent, more careful, wiser, and more capable of collaboration in the service of God and neighbour.
The Moon is far away, but we have neighbours who are farther away still. We must go to the ends of the earth, using every gift of knowledge and skill that has been entrusted to us. For heaven rejoices over every lost sheep that is found.
Job Vorster
[1] National Catholic Reporter, “Faith has always gone to space. Artemis II shows how much it has changed,” Jack Jenkins, 8 April 2026.
[2] Summa Theologica, Prima Pars, q. 65, a. 1.