The Pope’s astronomer has spoken out on his belief that there is definitely life beyond Earth – and says he would happily baptise monstrosities from beyond the stars.
In his new booklet, ‘Would You Baptise an Extraterrestrial?’, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, the new president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation (and keeper of the Pope’s meteorite collection) also asks several other Big Questions (below).
THE BIG QUESTIONS (as we see them)
Does Jesus’ Christ’s redemption ‘count’ for beings from Proxima Centauri?
Should the church send out missionaries to alien planets?
Do extraterrestrials have their own version of Jesus?
Did God have to move the Star of Bethlehem by hand?
Earlier this year, the Pope said that Martians (none have been found so far, don’t panic) would be welcome into the Church.
The Pontiff said, ‘If, for example, tomorrow an expedition of Martians came, and some of them came to us: green, with that long nose and big ears, just like children paint them. … And one says, “But I want to be baptised!” What would happen?’
Consolmagno, who holds two planetary science degrees, has firm beliefs on the matter (clue: it’s a yes!).
He has said, ‘Any entity – no matter how many tentacles it has – has a soul.’
Aliens can rest easy about the prospect of space crusades, however.
Consolmagno reassures any aliens reading that he would baptise them, ‘Only if they asked.’
The long-serving astronomer says that finding ET does not disprove the existence of God. He hopes that, instead, the discovery of tentacled horrors from the void will lead people to question what being human means.
‘When we say human, human as compared to what?’ he asks.
Consolmagno also addresses such pressing questions as whether God had to move the Star of Bethlehem by hand.
‘When people are worried about what was the star of Bethlehem, they really want to know how much does God act in the universe?” he asks. ‘Did God make that star? Does God arrange things? Does God use divine coincidences?’
Credit to Metro News
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