Before his first space mission began this year, Catholic astronaut Mark Vande Hei requested a call from Pope Francis, and yesterday his wish upon a star came true.

The Pope linked up live from the Vatican with the six-man crew as they orbited above Earth.

“Good morning, good evening,” the Pope told the crew at 3pm Rome time “because when you are in space, you never know” what the real time is.

During their 20-minute link-up, Pope Francis asked five questions about how their unique perspective from the frontier of the universe has changed or enriched them and what lessons they could share with people back on Earth.

Saying society today is very individualistic, but what is needed is collaboration, the Pope asked them how the space station is an example of that collaboration.

Flight engineer Joseph Acaba of Inglewood, California, said it is the diversity of each individual that makes the team stronger.

“We need to embrace who we are as individuals and respect those around us, and by working together we can do things much greater than we could do as individuals,” he told the Pope.

Pope Francis said they were like a tiny United Nations, in which the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Thanking them for their work, he said they were “representatives of the whole human family” working on such an important project in space.

When the Pontiff asked what brought them joy during their long mission, Commander Randolph Bresnik said it was being able to see every day “God’s creation maybe a little bit from his perspective.”

Commander Bresnik, a Baptist, said, “People cannot come up here and see the indescribable beauty of our earth and not be touched in their souls.”

His fellow crew members were also Christians: two Russian Orthodox and three Catholics.

FULL STORY

Pope says space station crew like a ‘tiny U.N.’ with peaceful diversity (CNS)

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