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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