Catholic Aliens

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_aliens

By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 13, 4:07 PM ET

VATICAN CITY - Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.

The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.

Funes said science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."

Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."

In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

"The church has somehow recognized its mistakes," he said. "Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration."

Pope John Paul declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.

The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.

Read your Orange Catholic Bible you Dune fans. 😛

I like it 😄

You mean the Great Whore used a word like "developed" to describe life? Odd. But, it's little more than a reaffirmation of intelligent design, except it kind of implies that the designer left his creation to it's own devices. So, it's actually an affirmation of all three theories: ID, creationism and evolution.

Was this ever actually an issue?

I like that they're trying to cover their theological tracks before we find aliens, since a race as advanced, sentient, and potentially altruistic as ours, would kinda blow the "Jesus as savior of the UNIVERSE" theory out of the water.

So no, aliens don't preclude a belief in God. They would, however, put our tiny planet and its mythologies into sharp perspective.

Originally posted by DigiMark007
I like that they're trying to cover their theological tracks before we find aliens, since a race as advanced, sentient, and potentially altruistic as ours, would kinda blow the "Jesus as savior of the UNIVERSE" theory out of the water.

What happens if we meet Aliens and they talk about how Jesus came and saved their souls?

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
What happens if we meet Aliens and they talk about how Jesus came and saved their souls?

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
I would suspect a trick, or they have been watching our TV for far too long. 😆

Oh you cynical, paranoid Buddhists 😉

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
What happens if we meet Aliens and they talk about how Jesus came and saved their souls?

Then I'd raise my hand up and say "Awesome prank, dude!" If he high-fived me, it would be true. If not, I'd kinda hang my head in shame, then walk off somewhere and masturbate because I'd be sad.

😂

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Oh you cynical, paranoid Buddhists 😉

It would screw things up though if we found them and they should us that they created us and we screwed up their experiment and they just left us alone to blow our self to kingdom come. 😄

Originally posted by DigiMark007
I like that they're trying to cover their theological tracks before we find aliens, since a race as advanced, sentient, and potentially altruistic as ours, would kinda blow the "Jesus as savior of the UNIVERSE" theory out of the water.

So no, aliens don't preclude a belief in God. They would, however, put our tiny planet and its mythologies into sharp perspective.

I think is more of a "expand" rather than "cover" but first things first....we need the aliens to come visit us.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Was this ever actually an issue?

That depends on which issues you're addressing.

Originally posted by Devil King
That depends on which issues you're addressing.

The question of Catholics being allowed to believe in aliens.

Originally posted by DigiMark007
I like that they're trying to cover their theological tracks before we find aliens, since a race as advanced, sentient, and potentially altruistic as ours, would kinda blow the "Jesus as savior of the UNIVERSE" theory out of the water.

So no, aliens don't preclude a belief in God. They would, however, put our tiny planet and its mythologies into sharp perspective.

Well, it depends...just because Jesus died on Earth doesn't mean he only died for the people of Earth...he died in Israel and didn't just save the Israelites...

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
The question of Catholics being allowed to believe in aliens.

Catholics were never not allowed to believe in aliens...this is just clarification that its not against the faith.