UPDATE ON POPE FRANCIS: Holy See Press Office director, Matteo Bruni: “The Holy Father rested well during the night. The blood chemistry tests are regular; he is continuing his respiratory physiotherapy. The morning was dedicated to work activities and reading texts. Before lunch he went to the small chapel of his private apartment where he prayed and received the Eucharist”.
POPE’S MESSAGE FOR WORLD DAY OF THE POOR: DON’T LOOK AWAY!
Pope Francis pens a message for the annual World Day of the Poor, stressing that “whenever we encounter a poor person, we cannot look away, for that would prevent us from encountering the face of the Lord Jesus.” Pope Francis has released his message for the annual World Day of the Poor, stressing that a “great river of poverty is traversing our cities”, and that every Christian is called to become “personally involved” in the struggle against it. His message for the World Day, which will be celebrated this year on Sunday 19th November, takes the form of an extended reflection on the Book of Tobit.
The scale of the problem
Pope Francis begins his message by stressing that “a great river of poverty is traversing our cities and swelling to the point of overflowing; it seems to overwhelm us, so great are the needs of our brothers and sisters who plead for our help, support and solidarity.” “We are living,” he continues, “in times that are not particularly sensitive to the needs of the poor. The pressure to adopt an affluent lifestyle increases, while the voices of those dwelling in poverty tend to go unheard.” FOR MORE: Pope’s World Day of the Poor message: Don’t look away! – Vatican News
SPEI SATELLES MISSION LAUNCHES POPE’S WRITINGS INTO SPACE
The satellite carrying the nanobook with the words of hope by Pope Francis given in St. Peter’s Square in 2020, when humanity was facing the most acute phase of the pandemic, has departed from California’s Vanderberg base. Once in orbit, the Cubesat made by the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, will broadcast excerpts of the Pope’s messages of hope, which can be picked up by radio enthusiasts around the world. A rocket carrying a satellite with a tiny nanobook took off overnight, at 11:19 pm Italy time, from Vandenberg Space Base in California. It contains words of hope of Pope Francis promoting global unity in the face of the pandemic, words the Pope gave alone in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square on 27 March 2020.
A team effort
Spei Satelles, “guardian of hope,” is the name of the space mission, promoted by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. The Italian Space Agency has coordinated the project, Italy’s National Research Center (CNR) made the nanobook, and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Turin’s Polytechnic University built the satellite, while students at Salesian University Institute of Venice created the logo for the initiative. The IDCGE of Buenos Aires also participated in the project, while the Digital Apostolate of Turin handled the pastoral and cultural coordination of the mission. FOR MORE: Spei Satelles mission launches Pope’s writings into space – Vatican News
FYI (from Dicastery for Communication (comunicazione.va):
Nano-books are miniaturized artifacts made from polished silicon substrates, thin plates made of dark gray crystalline material. On these square-shaped substrates, slightly smaller than 2mm in size, nanoscale holes have been “etched,” meaning they are smaller than one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair. Since conventional miniature printing at such small sizes is not possible, a “code” has been used: the digital contents of the paper book have been transformed into a sequence of 0s and 1s, binary code used in the field of computer science. For each “1,” a nanoscale hole has been created, while for each “0,” an empty space has been left. In this way, it is possible to retrieve all the information from the original book by “reading” the sequence of nanoholes present on the surface.
A full-sized version of the Pope’s book that will orbit the planet (Vatican news):
CubeSat: Spei Satelles is a 3U CubeSat, which is a small satellite measuring 34x10x10 cm and weighing less than 3 kg. The outer surface of the satellite is covered with solar panels, which enable the production of the necessary electrical power to operare it. Inside SpeiSat, there are several components: two onboard computers, two UHF communication systems (equipped with two antennas), a battery for energy storage, small magnets for satellite stabilization after launch, and a suite of thermal and inertial sensors for measurements in the space environment
Joan's Rome 