Vatican City, 31 July, 2025 / 7:51 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday appointed astronomer Father Richard Anthony D’Souza, SJ, as the new director of the Vatican Observatory.
D’Souza, who has worked at the Vatican’s astronomical research and educational institution since 2016, will start his new position on Sept. 19, according to the Holy See Press Office statement.
The Indian priest succeeds Brother Guy J. Consolmagno, SJ, whose 10-year mandate ends next month, as head of the observatory. Consolmagno will remain at the scientific institution as a staff astronomer.
Born in Goa in 1978, D’Souza joined the Society of Jesus in 1996 and was ordained a priest in 2011 after completing studies at the Jnana Deepa Institute of Philosophy and Theology in India.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai, India, in 2002 and was awarded a master’s degree in physics by the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 2005.
