Vatican: It’s OK to believe in aliens

1 comment May 13th, 2008

I’ve had an interest in space and whether there are other life forms  somewhere other than Earth. I’ve written about the Muons from the planet Myton, Billy Meier and UFOs. I was never sure what the Catholic Church thought about those kinds of stories, then this moved on the wires today:

VATICAN CITY (AP)  — The Vatican’s chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion “doesn’t contradict our faith” because aliens would still be God’s creatures.

The interview was headlined “The extraterrestrial is my brother.” Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like “putting limits” on God’s creative freedom.

Do you prefer John, or Mr. Smith?

9 comments May 13th, 2008

This is something that has bugged me for a long time. At some businesses, especially banks, when I get done with a transaction, the person says “Thank you, Walter.”

I come from an era where you called everyone Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. and if you called anyone by their first name it was presumptuous at best or disrespectful at worst.

It doesn’t feel right for someone I don’t know to call me by my given name instead of my surname.

What do you think? Am I just a curmudgeon  or do I have a case?