During his summer vacation: Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV (69), born in Chicago, led a special video call with a compatriot: Buzz Aldrin (95) was at the other end of the line. The former US astronaut entered the moon as the second person as part of the Apollo 11 mission. And this special event was also the reason for the virtual meeting.

The Pontifex announced this last Sunday. “Tonight, 56 years after the moon landing of Apollo 11, I spoke to the astronaut Buzz Aldrin,” says the social media contribution. Together, the two of them remembered the “historical performance”, “a testimony of human diversity, and we thought about the secret and the size of creation”.

Buzz Aldrin also looked back on the encounter at X, in which wife Anca Faur (66) was apparently also present. “Anca and I were grateful and touched to preserve the highest blessing of his holiness Pope Leo XIV on the 56th anniversary of the Moon Land of Apollo 11,” he said in the X message. “What an honor! We prayed for good health, long life and prosperity for the whole of humanity.”

The conversation was carried out by Pope Leo XIV from his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. He visited the Vatican observatory in Castel Gandolfo before the meeting, where he was able to take a look into the starry sky through one of the large telescopes.

In Castel Gandolfo near Rome, Pope Leo XIV, who was chosen on May 8, 2025 as the successor to Pope Francis (1936-2025), is currently his first summer time out as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pontifex has lived there since July 6th and will remain until next Tuesday. At first it was said that the Pope will only stay there until July 20. Despite the withdrawal from the Vatican, the summer Pope calendar was not without appointments: In his previous break, the 69-year-old had held several public services and received, among other things, the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj (47).