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Vatican astronomer: "E.T. could be our brother"

fatherroderick.sqpn.com — We can't rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial life, says Vatican astronomer, Fr. Funes, in the 'Osservatore Romano', the official newspaper of the Vatican. "Just as there is an abundance of creatures on earth, there could also be other beings, even intelligent ones, that were created by God." Read the translation of the Italian interview!

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rvonhogen 145 days ago

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Moku2k, on 05/13/2008, -4/+12I like it when science and religion can work together, unified theory can work for both sides.
- kentobean, on 05/13/2008, -4/+6Exactly, why can't God have created the Big Bang? There is no reason for science and religion not to coexist.
- dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -6/+6Science and religion are like oil and water. They will never complement one another, in any form or fashion. Nothing in Science shows a "creator"
  
  It does show evolution to the environment however.
  
  Religion is derived from ancient men's ignorance. Science is derived from modern man's evidence.
  
  You most be talking about those christians pretending to be scientists or scientists pretending to be christians.
  
  If you call yourself a christian but don't accept half of christian doctrine and never go to church, you're not a christian. You're an individual who's faith is influenced by christianity.
  
  If you call yourself a scientist but deny certain parts of science (actual scientific facts, not just studies) you are not a scientist. You're an individual who's faith is more important than science or logic.
  
  It's one or the other. The fact that an individual can assimilate PARTS of both doesn't mean that both, as a whole, are not mutually exclusive.
  
  You can't be a scientist if you believe that Adam and Eve were the first humans. You can't be a Christian if you think humans come from primates.
  - TheCatsPants, on 05/14/2008, -2/+4Why take Genesis literally? The Catholics certainly don't. The important thing is that the Catholic Church doesn't believe that science is somehow part of some "great atheist conspiracy", but that science is a tool that can bring us closer to understanding the universe, and therefore closer to God.
    - dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -2/+2Ok, so you don't believe in the creation story, great. Now, the next thing you have to do, is to present the yardstick you use in order to decide what in the bible is literal and what is fantasy. can you do that? You must also show that your interpretation is the correct one and that every other interpretation is incorrect, can you do that?
      
      Ok, we're not going to follow the Old Testament, and you toss out your "Creation" story in Genesis? The bible isn't a salad bar, so you can't pick and chose what parts you want to believe in, while telling everyone to ignore other parts. It's all or nothing.
      
      Funny how Christians only interpret the Bible anyway they seem fit. Funny how they interpret it to justify their intolerance, their own politics, their hypocrisy and the self-righteous bullsh1t they impose on others huh?
      
      I don't give a damn what brand of ***** anyone believes until those beliefs begin to turn into laws and campaign platforms, then they've overstepped the boundry separating church from state.
      
      It is a chilling fact that most of the world's leaders believe in nonsensical fairytales about the nature of reality. They believe in Gods that do not exist, and religions that could not possibly be true. We are driven to war after war, violence on top of violence to appease madmen who believe in gory mythologies.These men are called Christians, Muslims and Jews.
    - TheCatsPants, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3@dildoolielly
      Very good. Sorry to disappoint, but I am an atheist. I was just describing the viewpoint of the church. I was brought up Catholic, so understand their point of view.
      I'm on your side, but I do disagree with your viewpoint that anyone who doesn't take the bible literally isn't really a christian. That's what the Fundamentalists believe, enjoying the thought of everyone except themselves being condemned. There are (and have been) many different types of christianity, although none of them can be said to be "correct". There will even be differences in opinion over biblical interpretation within the church.
      Personally I think that people who take the bible absolutely literally are *not* christians. They worship a god that governs through threat and terror - and to me that means they worship an evil god. Their mindset disgusts me, especially when they make almost pagan claims about god creating hurricanes and tsunamis to punish the "wicked", and when they relish the thought of an apocalypse.
      In my opinion, if these people get any kind of power they would be as repressive and dangerous as the Islamic fundamentalists.
  - BrAug, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1Oil and water alone may not be perceived to be complementary, but oil, water, vinegar and the right seasonings can make an awesome salad dressing, to top off romaine or other lettuces.
    
    Science and religion mixed with some other special ingredients (I will call that, an openness to mystery.) can serve up a healthy meal. All you need to do is experiment a little.
- EatingPie, on 05/14/2008, -3/+9dildoelielly.
  
  How do you back up your claim that science and religion are like oil and water? Many of the great fathers of science, including those persecuted by the church, such as Gallileo and Copernicus, believe in the Judeo-Christian God. Several atomic scientists were led to the theory of the atom because of the belief in an ordered universe, again created by the Judeo-Christian God.
  
  In terms of the Adam & Eve vs. Primates argument... If we evolved from apes, there had to be a first human, no? Could it not be possible that the first "humans" were named Adam & Eve? On the flip side, is it not also possible that the section of the Bible where it discusses God creating Adam from the earth is using poetic and/or symbolic language? The 7-day creation account at the beginning of the Book of Genesis is written in an ancient Hebrew poetic style.
  
  It is not a question of assimilation, it's a question of coexistence. Does the Christian belief system function logically without contradicting science? And vice versa? Indeed, many people -- including Francis A. Schaeffer -- have works which illustrate that no contradiction exists between science and Christianity. Even if evolution is true, it does not contradict Christianity.
  
  -Pie
  - dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -3/+2What matters is evidence or lack thereof.
    
    You come to the table with absolutely zero evidence for your astonishing, mystical, mythical "Almighty Creator" claims, tell me not to question your "faith" while embeding your filth into our political process while establishing tyranical law against those you disagree with and you expect graciousness?
    
    Blind faith and refusal to consider people who demand evidence and have beliefs based in science and evidence as humans is probably the scariest ***** in the world.
    
    I have a theory that magical invisible green elephants control the universe from their homes inside doorknobs. Prove me wrong and if you can't, you can send your tax dollars to my Paypal account as a "faith based" initiative
- masamunecyrus, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2As far as I'm aware, the Jesuits have never thrown science out the window in favor of religion. In fact, Jesuits are highly renowned for bringing technology and science to countries lacking it throughout history, they're very well known for being great scholars and scientists, and they're even infamous for conspiracies to overthrow political leaders.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit
sjsoftware, on 05/13/2008, -5/+11The Church supports science because it's another way to get to the Truth.
- dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -6/+3-----------The Church supports science because it's another way to get to the Truth..-----------
  
  Utter, bullsh*t!
  
  Nutbars are always trying to ban things and criminalize people they don't agree with. They ban books and televised shows that disagree with their philosophies. They hate Science and Scientific literature that doesn't say the Earth was created 7 thousand years ago. They demonize sex and are more concerned what goes on in other people's bedrooms than their own. Their leaders molest little children and use the Church's money to defend themselves. They love the Iraq war and try to justify it by adding a touch of Christian missionary work to it. They love their booze and guns just as much as their Bibles. They have the highest divorce and murder rates. They are the world's biggest hypocrites.
JeffFerguson, on 05/13/2008, -5/+11Dugg at Fr. Roderick's request via Twitter, and because it's a good article.

Science and religion can co-exist. Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian priest and scientist, and is often called the father of genetics for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Fr. Georges Lemaître was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, honorary prelate, professor of physics and astronomer. Fr. (later Msgr.) Lemaître proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory. And how many theology papers did Sir Isaac Newton write? Several.
- dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -7/+4Intelligent Design = Religion Prancing Around In A Stolen Lab coat.
magnustagesson, on 05/13/2008, -3/+4Joining Fr. Roderick's little experiment here, seems like an interesting story!
redheadeddude, on 05/13/2008, -4/+2if ET were here today, would he use an iPhone?
craigmod, on 05/13/2008, -4/+1Joining Fr. Roderick's little experiment here, seems like an interesting story!
Crazysticks, on 05/13/2008, -2/+3Yes, other primitive life forms do have the same chance of inventing the idea of a supreme being. We are their 'ET' who may also have been created by their god.
AlexisGay, on 05/13/2008, -3/+1Dugg at Fr. Roderick's request via Twitter.... Same here.
riverrunner, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2ET could also annihilate us - like Cain did to Abel.
angusm, on 05/13/2008, -1/+9Aliens: "You crucified him, huh? On our planet we threw himher into a pool of [untranslatable] who chewed off all six of himher's [untranslatable], but the idea is the same. As for rising again on the third day, our planet turns on its axis once every sixty-five thousand years ... so we're still waiting. Glad to hear that it worked out for you folks, though."
mdinan, on 05/13/2008, -3/+6I am a Catholic that studied astronomy in college based on the textbooks written by Carl Sagan. I believe that humanity is one part of God's creation and that we are not alone in God's community called the universe.
- dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -6/+3Well, yeah, whatever, why don't you interpret whatever brand of bullsh1t you see fit, just keep it off our money and out of our schools and away from our taxes
  
  thank you
  
  signed,
  
  -American citizen
joelunch, on 05/13/2008, -1/+3Interesting Story. Keep them coming rvonhogen!
Havs, on 05/13/2008, -5/+9Doesn't the existence of extra terrestrials throw a huge monkey wrench in the whole Jesus theory? If he's the perfect being, wouldn't all other aliens need to look exactly like us? It would be hard to say we were created in Gods image if aliens are completely different than we are, especially if they're more evolved than we are. It'd seem to me that proof of extra-terrestrials would mean the end of Christianity. I don't quite understand how someone can believe in intelligent aliens and believe in Jesus at the same time.
- sc0rpi0n, on 05/14/2008, -3/+4The discovery of ET will definitely tame a lot of Christians. The number of religious people keep declining every day as science and technology advance. I think It's not so far fetch that supreme-being-based religion becomes obsolete.
- dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -4/+3You give the delusionals too much credit
  
  If we learned that some alien race landed on the planet and had hard scientific proof that we were the result of a genetic experiment on apes that they did 3 million years ago...my guess is Christians would write those aliens off as Bible-God "testing" their faith.
- TheCatsPants, on 05/14/2008, -1/+4Perhaps when the bible says that we were made in God's image, and that Jesus was a perfect being, they are referring to something spiritual rather than physical appearance.
Nhmarine, on 05/14/2008, -5/+4Since when has religion promoted thinking outside the box?! Oh man, if they let christians think there might be something other than the made in god's image thing.... whew.... scientology will be split up into Protestant groups!
Keystone28, on 05/14/2008, -2/+4Actually, astronomy and SETI were part of the catalyst that brought me to the Catholic church in the first place.
dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -7/+4I wonder what the Christians would do if Aliens landed on our Planet.

What sounds stranger,

Alien beings from other worlds contacting us

OR

believing that a mythical, anthropomorphic, self paranoid, ego-manic "Bible-God" impregnated a virgin in order to give birth to himself in order to be sacrificed to himself in order to sit beside himself in order to save the world from himself as some kind of sadistic experiment in self replicating redemption by fillings the heads of precious innocent impressionable children with disturbing stories of hell and damnation and devils and eternal suffering...

Or magical invisible green elephants who control the universe from their homes inside doorknobs?
dildoolielly, on 05/14/2008, -7/+4"The Spaghetti monster isn't a mockery, it's an exercise in logic. It provides an analogy which is a functional duplicate of the arguments used in Christianity. It then comes to apparently ridiculous conclusion to prove, not the ridiculousness of Christianity, but the ridiculousness of the logical methods used to 'prove' Christianity."
EatingPie, on 05/14/2008, -4/+9Sadly, the Spaghetti Monster isn't analogous to God; it fails as an analogy in at least one fundamental area.

There is NO evidence for a flying spaghetti monster. There IS, however, evidence of the existence of God. The Bible is what constitutes such evidence -- eyewitness accounts of people experiencing God. That is evidence, just as an eyewitness testimony in a court is also evidence. Now, is it GOOD evidence? Is it RELIABLE evidence? Those are entirely different questions. Ones we can't even get to with the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

-Pie
- StaticThunder, on 05/14/2008, -4/+3LOL@Evidence
  
  There are written works detailing the miracles of the spaghetti monster. There are even predictions that have come to pass. Hundreds of people saw the holy meatball rise up after three days of being on the floor before ascending into the pot of sauce.
- TheCatsPants, on 05/14/2008, -2/+4Nope. The bible isn't evidence of God, it is evidence of a culture. If the bible is admissable as evidence of God, then so should the other holy books from other religions. In fact, the most recent ones would be more admissable than the old, simply because they'd be more reliable.
- EatingPie, on 05/14/2008, -2/+4Why is the Bible -- which includes thousands of pages, and hundreds of thousands of eyewitnesses to a real God -- not evidence? Particularly if you admit it's "evidence of a culture," and that culture records an interaction with God.
  
  All books that claim the existence of God are admissible to some degree. However, then rises the question reliability, as I said. Age would be one criteria, but it is not as good a criteria as you might think. Many Christian groups, for example, claim the Book of Mormon is a false account (unreliable), and it's just over 100 years old.
  
  -Pie
  - TheCatsPants, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1Well, they would claim it's false wouldn't they. That was my point. Why don't they accept it? For the same reasons the Jews didn't take kindly to Jesus. Some people take the "crazy guy" seriously, others don't. It happens even now. Some cult grows up around a particular person, while other people are skeptics. The bible is a collection of stories written thousands of years ago, and the accounts of Jesus were selected versions, written years after his death. Would you accept an eye-witness account of someone writing about events years after they happened, when there is no physical evidence to back them up? How could the bible be thought of as reliable? Only if you *want* to believe it is. Which you do if you think it contains accounts of a "real" god. Is that opposed to a "unreal" god?
dantejones, on 05/14/2008, -1/+4Faith and Reason are both required. Vigorous and accurate scientific research is not contradictory to a humble and prayerful heart. Both can help all of Humanity. Both need to be encouraged.
angelmeg, on 05/14/2008, -0/+3Why do people get so upset at the idea of belief in God?
JimColumbusOhio, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Foreword by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
In 2005 the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn wrote a guest editorial in The New York Times that sparked a worldwide debate about “Creation and Evolution”. Pope Benedict XVI instructed the Cardinal to study more closely this problem and the current debate between “evolutionism” and “creationism,” and asked the yearly gathering of his former students to address these questions.

Even after Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, he has continued to maintain close contact with the circle of his former students. The "study circle" (Schulerkrers) meets once a year with Pope Benedict XVI for a conference. Many of these former Ratzinger students have gone on to become acclaimed scholars, professors and writers, as well as high ranking Church prelates.

This book documents the proceedings of the remarkable conference on the topic of “Creation and Evolution” hosted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 at the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. It includes papers that were presented from the fields of natural science, philosophy and theology, and records the subsequent discussion, in which Pope Benedict XVI himself participated.

“Ultimately it comes down to the alternative: What came first? Creative Reason, the Creator Spirit who makes all things and gives them growth, or Unreason, which, lacking any meaning, strangely enough brings forth a mathematically ordered cosmos, as well as man and his reason. The latter, however, would then be nothing more than a chance result of evolution and thus, in the end, equally meaningless. As Christians, we say: I believe in God the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in the Creator Spirit. We believe that at the beginning of everything is the eternal Word, with Reason and not Unreason.”
— Pope Benedict XVI

"Creation and Evolution is an extraordinary opportunity for the public to listen in on the conversation as some of the greatest minds in the Catholic Church — theologians, philosophers, scientists, and Pope Benedict himself — wrestle with one of the most thorny and far-reaching of topics. Participants clash repeatedly over what we really know about the forces that shaped life on earth, over what is data and what is hype, over what certain scenarios might mean even if they were true. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know where we might have come from and where we might be headed.
— Michael J. Behe, Lehigh University, Author of The Edge of Evolution

"At a time when evolution is the subject of so many bitter polemics, it is refreshing to see theologians and scientists together to engage in respectful, informed, and thoughtful discussion of it."
— Stephen M. Barr, professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Delaware, and author of Modern Physics and Ancient Faith.
choelscher, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2Keep it coming! Nice story. Vatican Astronomer. Yes, that is something we do not read about in mainstream media. :)
JimColumbusOhio, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2Hello Havs, Scorpion, Dildoolilly, and others:

Interesting questions and challenges, let me see if I can respond to a few from a personal perspective.

First a little background. I'm the only son of a man who graduated number 1 in his high school class. He went on to a prestigious engineering school in the eastern U.S. on a full scholarship and graduated number 1 in his bachelors degree engineering class. He was drafted by the Army during the Korean war. The U.S. Army recognized what they and had tested my father. He scored perfect scores on all their exams and was assigned to the Huntsville, Alabama space program run by the U.S. Government under the direction of Wernher von Braun. When his draft requirement was served he went back the prestigious eastern U.S. engineering school where he taught advanced engineering classes and graduated at the top his class with a masters degree in engineering. Upon graduation he went to work in the private sector in the aerospace industry. It wasn't long before the government came looking for him again based on the good work he did for Werner von Braun. For the next 37 years, he worked for NASA and was flown around the country to provide input on virtually everything that NASA and the USAF put in the air during that time. He's obviously a brilliant man. Despite his brightness, like so many other highly educated people, he struggles with interpersonal skills, human relationships, and helping his fellow human beings. Don't get me wrong, he has a good heart and tries to do well, but it is a struggle for him. He is an atheist and in all senses he raised me as a non-believer.

Upon graduation I too pursued a Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree. I did all right for myself in the class rankings (top 10%) and went to work in the private sector and have achieved some success. During my 20s I did not practice a faith life but continued to notice when I was with my father how he could only interact with people in a very superficial and shallow manner and used a lot of sarcasm to try to put himself up by putting other people down. That still continues. What a tragic waste of a brilliant mind. He is trying to get better in these areas but he is also getting older and cannot recapture years filled with sarcasm, and shallow superficial interactions with others…and/or missed opportunities to extend a helping hand to those in need.

I wanted more for my life than what my father achieved. I wanted to help my brothers and sisters (other people). I wanted to live the golden rule. So I first explored non-profit organizations of Habitat for Humanity (5 years, twice a week on many weeks) and the Red Cross (4 years). In those organizations I got to meet and assist a variety of good people that were trying to overcome a variety of challenges and setbacks. Both are worthy organizations, but their efforts were limited by slow to respond bureaucracies.

During my volunteer efforts I noticed there were more Christians out helping the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity than there were any other group. These Christians were living the Golden Rule and far out numbered us non-believers or members from any other social or religious group. They were living the "Golden Rule". I appreciated that. There is a saying that says "You judge a tree by the fruit it brings." The Christians were right on target with the Golden Rule.

Quietly during this time I would occasionally show up in the back of different churches on Sunday mornings to learn more about what might have been inspiring these people to want to take their valuable weekend time and limited financial resources and share them with other people they didn't know. After several years of study and listening, I boiled it down to the twin commandments and James 2:14. This is what I gained from listening to Jesus' teachings during Sunday services.

Hurricane Katrina and the Red Cross efforts were OK, but I think they could have done better. With the help of the Southern Baptists (another Christian group that rose to the occasion to help strangers) they served several million meals the first weeks after Katrina. (You judge a tree by its fruit.) But then these efforts faded as volunteers ran out of vacation time and savings and had to go back to work. They faded even more as other disasters happened that captured the media’s attention for the moment.

As I write this, there are countless Christian organizations that still taking vacation time to go help the people in New Orleans to overcome the disaster that occurred nearly three years ago. I am not aware of any other social, volunteer, or religious groups that are providing anything close to the man power and resources that Christians are still directing toward New Orleans. This type of effort should be encouraged, supported, nurtured, and appreciated. It should not be demeaned and sniped at by highly educated and sarcastic people that think they are more intelligent. Come on guys. You can do a better job with the Golden Rule. What if you were one of the people in New Orleans…would you accept assistance from a Christian group that reached out to you in your moment of need? Chances are if you wait for other groups to step forward, you will have a longer wait.

Catholic charities and other Christian groups provide assistance to millions in the form of food, shelter, clothing, medication, medical assistance, adoption services, rent assistance, emergency financial aid, counseling services, and education.

Allow Christians to have dignity while they reach out to try to help others. We don’t want to lose the efforts of good people trying to do good works (Living the Golden Rule) because they were finally fed up with the sarcasm and sniping from non-Christians.

As far as the scandal that occurred by several priests that molested children…good Catholics doing good works continue to go after these perpetrators. And they should. We need to support them in their efforts to get the criminals in jail and to get the productive and valuable Christian ship back on course. Catholic leaders are also taking steps to protect children. For example: priests are trying to avoid being in situations where they are alone with youth so there is less risk for any false accusation (this also helps identify if someone (priests or non-priests) were up to no good; parents are more protective of any adults near the children; confessional booths and many other hidden corners in churches are being fitted with translucent glass and regular glazing so people can help keep an eye out for people hiding in the shadows.

I will also remind you of the following points as you point fingers at various groups.

Some biologists (scientists) developed germ warfare. This does not mean that all biologists (scientists) are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some chemists (scientists) developed chemical weapons, Anthrax, and Ricin. This does not mean that chemists (scientists) are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some physicists developed nuclear weapons. This doesn’t mean that physicists are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some lab technicians test harmful cosmetics and chemicals on innocent animals. This does not mean that lab technicians are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some doctors have conducted tests on human guinea pigs. This doesn’t mean that doctors are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some teachers have abused children. This doesn’t mean that teachers are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some coaches have abused children. This doesn’t mean that coaches are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some coaches have abused children. This doesn’t mean that coaches are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some camp counselors have abused children. This doesn’t mean that camp counselors are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some parents have abused children. This doesn’t mean that parents are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some police have abused their authority. This doesn’t mean that police are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some politicians have abused their authority. This doesn’t mean that politicians are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some business people have made money selling drugs and weapons. This doesn’t mean that business people are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

Some business people make money selling child pornography. This doesn’t mean that business people are bad and should be eliminated. The bad actions of a small segment of the group tarnish the entire group but the actions do not negate the positive contributions that have also come from this group.

We should go after the perpetrators of the evil deeds and punish them accordingly and not blame the entire group if the majority of the group is doing good work.

When I hear Christians say that God made man in his image, I understand this to mean that (1) God gave the human race an intellectual ability to reason and process details; (2) People have a freedom of choice to do good works or to do evil. In these ways they are like God. It does not mean we look like God…the physical appearance resemblance is too simplistic of an understanding of what the message was telling us in regards to “how” we are like God.

We should all try to support the scientists (religious and non-religious) that use intellectual gifts to discover universal truth. We should all try to support practitioners of the “Golden Rule” in their efforts to help brothers and sisters in need. Science and religion have come a long way in the past 2,000 to 3,000 years and we still have a long way to go. The good works from both of these segments are important and needed. The evil deeds from any members of either of these groups should be punished with prison time.
petersito, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Hello Fr. I am a R.C. Seminarian from the USA. i was particularly interested on E.T.'s case, because i like science. in addition, it is the first time in my life that i heard someone who works for the R.C. Church speaking about it.
Humbly beg you to excuse my broken English, it is not easy for a Colombian guy to write in a different language, but still i want to support and express my admiration for your show. I think that we Catholics should find new ways of reaching the faithful, in this case your program is showing us a new way.
turning back to E.T's story i think that God's power can not be reduced to our human limited sphere. i will be happy to know that there are out there in some place some sort of beings which have not lost their relationship with God.
God Bless and keep working as hard always.
WestcoastEden, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2It's interesting to see that many non-believers think science and religion are incompatible. In fact, the Catholic Church laid the foundations for modern science. The sheer number of scientists and mathematicians within the Church, is overwhelming. I recommend reading "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization" by Thomas E Woods to fully appreciate how much the Catholic Church has contributed to the world of science.
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Vatican astronomer: "E.T. could be our brother"

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