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BBC NEWS | Europe | Vatican says aliens could exist

The Pope's chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out.

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 12:18:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]
As long as it's not intelligent life and so doesn't pose the question of the uniqueness of Jesus' salvation mission to Humanity, there's no reason to burn Funes or the exobiology community at the stake.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 02:22:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world universe.
Green and yellow, blue and white,
All are precious in his sight,
Jesus died for all the children of the world universe.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 03:00:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
They burned Giordano Bruno at the stake for that. Bruno did assert that there are/were an infinity of stars, worlds and beings on those worlds.
by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 03:04:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
But the real theological issue was that if there were sentient beings elsewhere this posed problems of uniqueness for the biblical narrative of creation original sin. and redemption.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 03:15:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think there's a deeper and more profound mystery here - which is why after centuries of blather, nonsense, violence and hypocrisy, anyone cares what the Vatican thinks about science.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 04:22:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]
not if they stepped off the mothership wearing wings...

but then they wouldn't need to step off, would they?

forget it...

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 07:00:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

From the BBC

The [UK] National Archives is displaying previously classified files on UFOs. They include this diagram, whose author believed alien craft used decoy methods to avoid detection, carrying not humans but "fallen angels".
by Sassafras on Wed May 14th, 2008 at 01:04:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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