The 507 Effect

“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, said 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 said 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.”

Thanks to MSNBC.com for the story: Vatican: its OK to believe in extraterrestrials.

This only serves to bring up more questions in my opinion. Like:

• Did extra terrestrials also fall from grace with Adam and Eve’s original sin?
• Does this mean that Jesus would be the Savior of extra terrestrials too?
• Did Jesus’ death on the cross free them from sin also, or is he forced to be persecuted and crucified on every life bearing planet?
• If he is persecuted and crucified on every life bearing planet, is there enough time in the life of the Universe for him to save everyone?
• If there is enough time in the life of the Universe for Jesus to save everyone by being persecuted and crucified on every life bearing planet, does that mean Jesus is always, at every moment being crucified somewhere in the Universe?
• What if extra terrestrials have never heard of Jesus, does that de-power the Catholic Church?

This is a landmark statement to be released by The Vatican. Keep in mind that The Vatican believed for centuries that the earth was the center of the Universe. So opening up the possibilities to extra solar systems and extra terrestrials is huge! My question of the day is this: Does the Catholic Church, with its billions of dollars of scientific equipment and tens of hundreds of years in power, know something huge is about to happen regarding our place in the Universe, or is this a Public Relations Campaign to make the Church seem “more hip” in this new super-computerized world?
Please leave me your answers and comments.