Monday, September 18, 2006
Coyne on Sabbatical
According to The News Observer: The Rev. George Coyne, who stepped down as director of the Vatican Observatory last month, will spend a sabbatical on the staff of St. Raphael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in North Raleigh. He will stay for a year before returning to the observatory in the Arizona desert, where he will continue to lead the Vatican Observatory Foundation.
... Coyne said that when he retired as the observatory director, the Vatican offered him a year's sabbatical before returning as a researcher. A native of Baltimore, he asked his superiors for a posting closer to home. The Jesuit provincial leaders sent him to Raleigh.
"Being involved in scientific research and administration for 30 years, I just wanted to be a priest," Coyne said, adding, "They have a great need of priests."
