Vatican: God and Aliens Can Coexist
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The Vatican’s chief astronomer, Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, confessed in an interview that he saw no conflict between the religious doctrine he serves, and the scientific knowledge he peruses–including the possibility of “extraterrestrial brothers.” He also stated that it remains entirely possible that humanity represents the “lost sheep” of the universe, and that there is an entire community of highly-evolved extraterrestrials that remained in “full friendship with their creator.”
Rev. Funes is one of several scientists employed by the catholic church and although he is the only one to have recently spoken out in such a public fashion, Vatican scientists are largely in agreement with the scientific community; while still not excluding their religious principles of course. Father Funes for example, is a firm believer that the universe was created by the big bang, and that the formation of the universe has been governed by the laws established at that outset.
This may be problematic to a creation story for some, but he also sees that “we are not the children of an accident” and finds a sense of balance in the dialog between the church and science. This, he believes would benefit both science and the church as they stopped simply ignoring one another and began to look to each other for guidance and understanding.
This is a far cry from the position formerly held by the church: Galileo was condemned in the 17th century for his heliocentric universe. The Vatican did not formally apologize for this until 1992.
[AP]
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Comments
3 Responses to “Vatican: God and Aliens Can Coexist”
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Arubus
Posted: May 15th, 2008 at 4:42 am1Reply to this comment.Thanks Dr. Funnys…. you are further blurring the lines between organized religion and fanaticism…keep up the good work… maybe God and Falcor can sit down and play a game of chess while they decide the future of mankind.. viva la Riot Village
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Ian Kemmish
Posted: May 15th, 2008 at 2:28 pm2Reply to this comment.Strictly speaking, a creationist would be required to believe in extraterrestrial life, since Genesis describes the creation of two slightly different Earths and two slightly different first couples (though it declines to say which of the two Earths we live on).
Of course, given the doctrine of Papal infallibility and his excellent lines of communication, he ought to be able to just ask, and receive a definitive answer one way or the other. Just think of how much money he could save the US taxpayer!
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Catnip
Posted: Jun 29th, 2008 at 8:04 pm3Reply to this comment.As a non-American I find it fascinating that Christian equates to Creationist in your country. There are millions of Christians throughout the world who have no problem with the Big Bang, evolution, etc. You are the only country on earth where a literal interpretation of biblical texts is still believed.

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