I’m geeking out!
On July 20, 1969, Bob Prevost was a 13-year-old kid in Chicago. I was a 6-year-old kid in New York. We both did the same thing on that evening: we watched on our televisions as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first and second human beings to set foot on the surface of the Moon.
There were two unprecedented events on that day. One was the first moon landing. The other was the first global live television broadcast. The first was an amazing achievement that — whatever complex motives drove the space race — was a moment of wonder for kids like us, not only in the U.S.A. but all over the world. The second was a “giant leap” for audiovisual communications media that in some way allowed us all to “participate” in this event.
In 2025 Pope Leo video-called the 95-year-old Aldrin, the only surviving Apollo 11 astronaut. Leo posted, “together we shared the memory of a historic feat.” It is a memory that I also share, a pivotal childhood memory of an event that “involved me” through broadcast TV. Indeed, it was an event that pointed to the mystery of Creation.
