ACME January 2026

"This isn't the end; it's just the beginning," Angela Kopp said enthusiastically on the final full day of the 2026 ACME workshop. Ms. Kopp, a Science Specialist at Holy Cross Catholic School in Overland Park, KS, was one of 25 participants in at ACME--Astronomy for Catholics in Ministry and Education--a biennial weeklong seminar held at the Redemptorist Renewal Center outside of Tucson, AZ. This year's 25 participants included priests, a deacon, science teachers and catechists from around the country and two from the United Kingdom.

This program, first held in 2015, was the brainchild of Fr. James Kurzynski, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin and an amateur astronomer. As developed by Br. Guy Consolmagno, president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, and other astronomers of the Vatican Observatory, it immerses a diverse group of participants together to experience astronomy in a Catholic setting. In turn, as Ms. Kopp alluded to, it provides resources and ideas to help the participants to discuss issues of faith and science back to their parish and school communities.

Activities this year included presentations from a number of University of Arizona astronomers, including an overview from the Vatican Observatory’s Br. Bob Macke about his participation in NASA's OSIRIS-REx and Lucy missions; a field trip to the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab and the Planetary Imaging Facility at the University of Arizona; and a panel discussion with Vatican Observatory astronomers on the Jesuit style of astronomy. Each day concluded with Mass, dinner, and telescope observations of the dark desert skies.

ACME is sponsored by the Vatican Observatory Foundation, the Tucson-based fundraising organization for the Vatican Observatory. Additionally, it received generous support this year from the Helen Brach Foundation.