Pope Francis held a video call with the six astronauts on the international space station on Thursday. He told the crew they have an opportunity for a God’s eye view of Earth, saying the planet is fragile and could destroy itself.

Video call between Pope Francis and the ISS

Pope Francis enjoyed a 20-minute video chat with the six ISS astronauts while speaking about the biggest questions in life, including their view on love and joy and how living without gravity affects their view of the world. During the live-streamed call, Randy Bresnik, 50, the current ISS mission commander and U.S.

astronaut, told the pontiff that their point of view in Earth’s orbit gives them a chance to view the world from a position without borders or conflicts.

Bresnik described his greatest joy as being to look out the window each day to view God’s creation, while far away from the wars, pollution, famines and human folly. According to Bresnik, humanity’s future looks a whole load better from up there in the ISS. As reported by Reuters, Pope Francis went on to say Bresnik understands how the Earth is very fragile and could pass in a moment.

Speaking from Vatican City, the pontiff also heard from an Italian astronaut, 60-year-old Paolo Nespoli. The Catholic News Agency reports that Nespoli told Pope Francis that despite his bird’s eye view of the planet, he is still “perplexed” about the place of humans in the world.

Meanwhile U.S. astronaut, Mark Vande Hei said that viewing the planet from up there in space made them all realize how fragile we are. Russian astronaut Sergey Ryazansky told the pontiff that he was proud to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, who had been involved in the Sputnik launch in 1957.

Pope Francis went on to speak about the boundless horizons of the universe and how questions arise as to where we came from and where we are heading.

Nespoli responded by saying their aim as astronauts on the ISS is to spread knowledge. However, he added that the more they learn, the more they realize how much they still do not know. The Italian astronaut went on to say he would like to see people like the pontiff, along with poets, philosophers, and writers, to travel into space to find out what it means to be human.

Pope Benedict XVI also called the ISS

The International Space Station has been occupied continuously with astronauts from several countries since 2000. The current crew of six astronauts took turns in speaking to the pontiff. However, he is not the first Pope to speak to the astronauts on the ISS. Pope Benedict XVI, his predecessor, also enjoyed a video call with the International Space Station in 2011 at which time he also spoke to Nespoli, who was then in the second of three ISS missions.
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