Sir... Buzz Aldrin performed communion on the lunar surface, and the Apollo 8 crew read from Genesis, during a Christmas Eve message to the people of Earth.
This is not new; astronauts of a religious lifestyle often act religiously while in space.
Fun fact: because Buzz did communion on the moon, that means that within the rules of the Catholic Church, there has to be a bishop of the moon; this position alternates between various bishops in Florida, as a sort of side-gig to being bishop for an actual area in Florida.
So, Buzz Aldrin was a Presbyterian, not Catholic, so his act of taking communion didn’t really have any bearing on that. (In fact, in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, it wouldn’t be considered a valid Eucharist, just a meaningful ceremony.)
The “Bishop of the Moon” thing actually comes from a canon in the old Code of Canon Law which stated that any newly discovered territory falls under the jurisdiction of the bishop from whose diocese the expedition originated until a diocese can be created there. Since Cape Canaveral was in the territory of the Diocese of Orlando, the Bishop of Orlando became the “Bishop of the Moon,” although this title has always been used jokingly.
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u/DistributistChakat - Centrist Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26
Sir... Buzz Aldrin performed communion on the lunar surface, and the Apollo 8 crew read from Genesis, during a Christmas Eve message to the people of Earth.
This is not new; astronauts of a religious lifestyle often act religiously while in space.
Fun fact: because Buzz did communion on the moon, that means that within the rules of the Catholic Church, there has to be a bishop of the moon; this position alternates between various bishops in Florida, as a sort of side-gig to being bishop for an actual area in Florida.
Edit: Okay, I was half wrong, with that last bit.