10/25/2026
Have you ever looked up at the stars at night and wondered about how you fit into in all of this vast universe? If you’ve ever done this, gazed at the stars on a clear night, so to find out the names of the constellations, and wondered at the vastness of creation, you are in good company.
John Thomas Mullock was curious about many things. He learned to read and write in seven languages. He studied in Spain and in Italy. He gained a great respect for the cultures in which he lived and worked.
When he came to Newfoundland as auxiliary Bishop to Bishop Fleming in 1848, he brought this telescope with him. He acquired it in his travels in Europe. Perhaps he looked through it on the long voyage at sea from Ireland to Newfoundland. We do know that he spent time here looking at the stars in the sky over his new home.
Bishop Mullock often spoke and wrote about how inspired he was by a bishop and Saint who lived a century before him: St Alphonsus Liguori. He even translated some of the works of St. Alphonsus from Italian into English, and wrote the first biography of the Saint in English. We know that Alphonsus also had a telescope! He made sure that he taught his students how the heavens worked, and how the stars and planets moved in their orbits in the heavens.
Today, this wonderful old telescope is on display in the Bishops library, within the Basilica block. It reminds us of a man, a remarkable man. It also reminds us to be curious and to stand in wonder at the beauty of creation.
This Library was built by Bishop Mullock to be a home and a showcase for music and art, the written word in prose and poetry. Artefacts such as this telescope help us to tell our story. You are part of that story. What stories do you tell about the Basilica block. What’s your connection?
