New Norcia: The Monastery and the Observatory |
In Western Australia, there's a small and somewhat surreal town called New Norcia. It's Australia's only Monastic town - with a surprising and imposing collection of Spanish style buildings. New Norcia was established in the 1850s as a 'Spanish Benedictine Monastery.' Today, a handful of monks continue the ancient tradition of prayer, work and service in their search for God. Now, New Norcia is also the home to one of the European Space Agency's largest tracking stations. A monastery next to an observatory might seem incongruous, however these neighbors have forged an unlikely understanding. Both groups are exploring the riddle of existence and space, in different ways. This program was produced by Roz Bluett of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.
New Norcia:The Monastery and the Observatory was produced by Roz Bluett of the Australian Broadcasting corporation. The sound engineer was Russell Stapleton. Poetry, passages from the journals of Ernest Giles, and excerpts from the book Pythagoras's Trousers by Margaret Wertheim were read by Robert Menzies. Special Thanks to Ron Vogels and Valeriano Claros from the European Space Agency, and to the Benedictine community of New Norcia. This program originally aired as part of the international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.
Links:
ESA: Rosetta
Visit this website to find out more about the Rosetta mission.
New Norcia
Learn more about New Norcia, Australia's only monastic town.
Books:
Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom by: Gerald L. Schroeder 1998 An M.I.T. trained physicist shares his research and thoughts on the relationship between science and religion.
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