Vatican looks to the sky and asks who's up there
Published On Wed Nov 11 2009
VATICAN CITY–E.T., phone Rome.
Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the centre of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implications for the Catholic Church.
"The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory.
Funes, a Jesuit priest, presented the results Tuesday of a five-day conference that gathered astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology – the study of the origin of life and its existence elsewhere in the cosmos.
Funes said the possibility of alien life raises "many philosophical and theological implications" but added the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue.
Funes set the stage for the conference a year ago when he discussed the possibility of alien life in an interview given prominence in the Vatican's daily newspaper.
The Vatican's views have shifted radically through the centuries since Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other ideas, that other worlds could be inhabited.
Scientists have discovered hundreds of planets outside our solar system – including 32 new ones announced recently by the European Space Agency. This is not the first time the Vatican has explored the issue of extraterrestrials: In 2005, its observatory brought together top researchers in the field for similar discussions.
In the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God.
He maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would be considered "part of creation."
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The Vatican's views have shifted radically through the centuries since Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other ideas, that other worlds could be inhabited.
Where did the earlier Vatican views that no other worlds could be inhabited come from?
Do the extra books of the Catholic bible say something about no other possible life forms other than on earth?
