Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

June 6, 2022

Cardinal and University of Arizona Denied Apache Sacred Way of Life and Built Telescope on Mount Graham


Mount Graham Sacred Run

Vatican's Observatory on Mount Graham violates the Apache way of life, destroyed natural habitat,  and now desecrates sacred Mount Graham

New York Times article fails to document the role of Cardinal Sodano and the University of Arizona in denying the Apaches' sacred way of life and constructing a telescope on sacred Mount Graham

Cardinal Sodano and the University of Arizona led the denial of Apache's religious way of life and constructed the Vatican's Observatory on Mount Graham after years of efforts to protect the sacred mountain. The New York Times has an article on Sodano, pointing out his role in covering up sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, but the article does not document Sodano's role in desecrating Mount Graham and denying the sacred Apache way of life.

The University of Arizona often concealed its role and went so far as to have university security arrest Wendsler Nosie for trespass when he was praying on Mount Graham.

While the University hid its role in the desecration of Mount Graham, the University of Arizona continued to solicit and receive millions of dollars each year in grants based on Native Americans' needs, struggles and research.

The Vatican currently has a telescope on Mount Graham.

The media is quick to censor the history and facts of the abuse by the Catholic Church. Sodano's death is a grim reminder of Sodano's role in both the desecration of Mount Graham and the oppression of truth about priests who are sexual predators. -- Censored News.

Guest Commentary

Censored News


Cardinal Angelo Sodano, along with former Vatican Observatory Director Father George Coyne and Father Charles Polzer, led the abuse of the Apache opposing the desecration of Mount Graham by the University of Arizona and Vatican astronomers.

Coyne, who was also a UA astronomy professor, called for suppression of the traditional Apache religious leaders. On May 25, 1992, Coyne wrote that Apache beliefs are “a kind of … religiosity to which I cannot subscribe and which must be suppressed with all the force that we can muster.”

Polzer testified for the University of Arizona against the Apache religious leaders saying that the Apache never cared about Mount Graham and never considered it sacred. “Rarely did the Apaches use these mountain heights, and the sacredness is about as specific as references to the sky,” he said in his affidavit for UA and the Vatican against the Apache. Polzer also called the protection of Mount Graham a “Jewish Conspiracy.”

Sodano blocked the traditional Apache religious leaders from their scheduled meeting with Pope John Paul at the Vatican in May 1992.

While there is a new Director of the Vatican Observatory, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, the fact that the Vatican still maintains a telescope on Mount Graham speaks directly to the ongoing disrespect shown to the traditional Apache by the Vatican.

A summary of the treatment of the Apache on Mount Graham can be found on pages 28-35 at this URL link:
Center for Biological Diversity






Below: New York Times article

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican Power Broker, Dies at 94

He rose to the second-highest-ranking position in the Roman Catholic Church, but his reputation was stained by his handling of sex-abuse cases.

By Jason Horowitz

May 28, 2022

ROME — Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who rose to the pinnacle of the Roman Catholic Church as the Vatican’s top diplomat, the ultimate power broker of the papal court and the deeply influential dean of cardinals before seeing his reputation stained by his connection with the cover-up of sex abuse scandals, died on Friday. He was 94.

His death was announced by the Vatican, which did not say where he died or cite a cause.

Cardinal Sodano served as secretary of state, the second-highest-ranking position in the Vatican after the pope, for 16 years. His tenure covered a good portion of the pontificate of John Paul II, who once described him as “my first and precious collaborator.” 


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