Remembering Rev. George Coyne: He dazzled us ‘like a shooting star’ (Commentary)

Portrait of Rev. George Coyne seated in a lecture hall.

The Rev. George Coyne pictured in a Le Moyne College classroom in February 2012. After a long career at the Vatican Observatory, Coyne was appointed the McDevitt Chair of Religious Philosophy at Le Moyne. He died Feb. 11, 2020. (David Lassman / The Post-Standard)

The Rev. George V. Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory in Rome for nearly 30 years, died Feb. 11, 2020, in Syracuse. Coyne spent his final years at Le Moyne College, where he held the McDevitt Chair of Religious Philosophy and taught astronomy courses. Coyne, a Jesuit priest, “promoted the dialogue between science and theology at the highest level,” his obituary said. Le Moyne College President Linda LeMura delivered the following remembrance at Coyne’s funeral Mass Monday in the Panasci Family Chapel on the Le Moyne campus.

By Linda LeMura | Le Moyne College President

In 1991, astronomers Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy discovered a previously unknown body in the asteroid belt, which was officially designated SPK-ID 2014429 (catchy, isn’t it?). It so happens that when astronomers discover something new, they get to give it a real name, and so these two researchers chose to name it after their colleague George Coyne, so formally, the body is asteroid 14429 Coyne. Now, 14429 Coyne, like most asteroids, is unpretentious, unlike those glory-hog planets who grab all of the attention. How appropriate that this heavenly body should carry George’s name through the heavens.

14429 Coyne. Perhaps not particularly poetic, but in the movement of bodies and the vastness of the universe, George saw poetry. George measured time in eons, and distance in terms of cosmic space. And that’s where he found meaning as well. After a lifetime of contemplating the stars and praying to God who inspired them, George Coyne never allowed himself to be distracted and preoccupied by the small, the momentary, the transient. Where the rest of us saw mountains he saw only molehills.

Here’s an example:

On learning of George’s death, Syracuse University physicist Peter Saulson, a member of the team that made the first recording of gravitational waves, sent me a letter of condolence. George had arranged for Dr. Saulson to speak about the groundbreaking discovery by the Laser Gravitational-Wave Observatory (or LIGO) in this very chapel in 2016. In his letter, Peter recalled that on his first meeting with George, he immediately sensed that they were kindred spirits.

In his letter, Peter went on to say: “Twice last fall, George had me over for lunch at the Jesuit residence on campus, and those discussions will remain my fondest memories of him. I treasured our discussions on issues of science and faith. His insights into how to read the books of Teilhard de Chardin will continue to help me in my own thinking. True to his gracious character, George never let on that his days were numbered. Instead, he asked lots of questions about my own life, what I was reading, and the like; he was full of encouragement and optimism. Now that I know what was on his own mind, I regret not being able to offer him informed encouragement and comfort. But I admire him all the more for his kindness and dignity. Thank you very much for giving a home to such a great soul in the final years of a very full life.”

Are any of us surprised that George was more interested in discussing the theology of Teilhard de Chardin rather than his own illness and worry? Doesn’t it seem utterly appropriate that — even while keenly aware of how fleeting his time might be — that he’d be curious about books and ideas, compassionate about others rather than anxious for himself? Perhaps, because he spent a lifetime peering into the heavens, George Coyne was more interested in finally finding the answers to the biggest questions.

I met George for the first time in 2010, when Le Moyne awarded him an honorary degree. And following that meeting, I pursued him relentlessly. How hard could it be, I thought, to convince a world-renowned astronomer, who had lived in Rome and Arizona, to come to Syracuse, New York — home of one of the world’s largest snowplows? Ultimately, he relented (I can be very persuasive), but he promised to stay for at least a short while, if only I would stop hounding him. As George would say: “I can love in the desert and I can love in the snow.” That was eight years ago. George told me more than once that he fell in love with Le Moyne, or as he called us “a learning family.”

In the New York Times, the Rev. James Martin, editor-at-large of America, the Jesuit magazine, said, “George was one of the pre-eminent figures in the Catholic world who could speak intelligently and articulately about both science and faith. And George, by nature a humble man, could often dazzle.”

And like a shooting star, dazzle us he did. I’m not sure when 14429 Coyne will next pass overhead, but I know that when I look up into the night sky — into that dark sublime — I’ll think of Father George Coyne and thank God for the light he brought to my life and to the lives of our students. Your life has blessed God, George. And may God bless you.

Ci vediamo, il mio fratello. Vi vogliamo bene. Grazie. (We will see you, my brother. We love you. Thank you.)

Related:

Le Moyne professor, former Vatican Observatory director dies

Obituary for Father George V. Coyne, S.J.

Former Vatican astronomer brings outspoken views on creation/evolution to teaching post at LeMoyne College (2012)

Le Moyne professor, a former Vatican Observatory director, devotes his career to both faith, science (2014)

Pope’s climate change encyclical brings religion and science into dialogue (Commentary by Rev. George V. Coyne)

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