They've decide that believing in you doesn't constitute a theological problem.

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.

Now this opens up all sorts of interesting areas for theological speculation.

• Are aliens subject to original sin?
  
• Did the redemptive sacrifice of Christ in human form apply to aliens as well?
  
• If not, did Christ have to take on flesh in their form to suffer and die for their redemption?

Posted by: Greg at 10:53 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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