The dismantling of the astronomical observatory at the Pope’s summer residence for more than 75 years is raising some conspiratorial eyebrows among the nutters in the press.

The Pope needs more room to receive diplomats so the telescopes which have been there for 75 years are being relocated to a convent one mile away. But the move to the press marks the end of a period of intimacy between popes and priest-astronomers that has lasted well over a century. Gasp!!!

In short, to the press this shows the incompatibility of faith and science. In fact, according to the UK Independent this renovation was worthy of a headline saying “Science bows to theology as the Pope dismantles Vatican observatory.”

All this despite the fact that Father Jose G Funes, the present director of the observatory, known as the Specola Vaticana, insisted that there was no sinister significance in the move. “It is not a downgrading of science in the Vatican,” he said. “To remain within the palace would have had only a symbolic significance, whereas where we are going we will be even more comfortable. Nearly everybody is in agreement with the move.”

But never let the truth get in the way of a good story, right?