Vatican Ponders the Existence Of Alien Life

lol. The vatican makes me giggle.

-Qualifications?
Stampeding cattle.
-That's not much of a crime.
Through the Vatican?
-Kinky, Sign here.

Mormons and Scientologists already believe in aliens :p

Sparta

lol, eh "moved far past the boundaries of modern science", just saying this but most scientists already accept that were not alone in this universe as common fact.....so the church i still just catching up......and they kinda still don't accept string theory or big bang theory as anything other than heresy, lol,....^^yeah, they make me laugh too

Those of religous faith should not be ridiculed for showing a new and enlightened view. Those of us who may not hold any particular faith have bemoaned the stance of those of faith. In this case, they have shown encouraging signs of understanding they should be applauded and welcomed rather than disrespectfully dismissed. How does the tone of this article or these comments promote science? Arrogance is ignorance...

Uh, a catholic priest came up with the Big Bang theory, and technically they aren't "catching up" if they now are basically on the same page, and suggesting their own ideas. Sure, religion is hokey, but as far as religions go thats a pretty awesome step! (and less ridiculous than scientology, to be fair.)

This conference can't be anything other than an exercise in imagination, as there is no evidence whatsoever at all that there IS life anywhere but here.

Conjecture on earthen evidence that life started spontaneously on earth in no way lends any credence to more conjecture on life arising spontaneously on other planets.

What's the point of this again?

It's the Church's role to proclaim that "God created the heavens and the Earth". It's the scientists' role to show how He did it. The two roles are NOT mutually exclusive!
To totally bridge the gap the Church has to accept the fact that the laws of science govern the universe. Then, their mission becomes one of making the case that God CREATED the laws of science. Science is still pursuing a unified field theory that says a universal equation can solve for all forces in the universe. To bridge the gap between science and religion from THEIR end, Science cannot discount that this equation might be "the Hand of God."

If scientists prove that the universe runs without God spinning it then where is there use for God?

And yes they can. The scientists will just ask for them to prove it and they will be baffeled.

The Vatican was within scientific mainstream thinking with its rejection of Galileo's theory considering his theory's major holes which were not filled until after the Church condemned him (after he took several low-blows at the pope). In fact the Vatican has always employed a team of scientists to understand the world; it's essentially a popular myth that the Vatican is somehow "anti-science".

wow the environmental sins and now this?
the vatican has come a long way

... no it hasn't

Without the Vatican endorsement and often funding of technological and scientific research during the Middle-ages human beings would not have developed the same way they did (e.g., the first item that comes to mind: please consider Michelangelo’s Vatican dome using a technique never done before). The Vatican never jumped to approve a.s.a.p. all the new scientific theories, and because of its authoritative position always took a very long time to consider them. The existence of God cannot be proven or refuted strictly by scientific or technical means without having a notion of faith in something that belongs to the world of thoughts and understanding. But, it could be said that without the intrinsic human urge to continue God’s creation in some form, people would have remained in an animal or primate state. Therefore, the atheists may be considered as people who purposefully ignore how humanity has evolved since the discovery of how to make fire; if they disrespect believers, they ultimately show their wilful ignorance and myopia.

Man is an egocentric being. We can only think in ways that make us the center of what we are. Therefore we put God and science in a box and can only see things in the physical ways that we can readily observe. According to theology God is ominpresent,omnipotent and omnicient but we put limits on him and what he can and will do through our religious guru's intellect and writings. Let's put God in a box and then we can control Him.
Science gurus do the same thing. The unified field theory or the god of all science is ominpresent,omnipotent and omnicient and controls the universe and all things therin.
We can observe and know all procees and then we can control them. We can put our god in a box.
At first the two were at odds and the Vatican had all the power and persecuted the ungodly scientists who wanted to steal their power. Now they are on an equal footing after many years of enlightenment.
It is no wonder they are finally getting together because both really have the same agenda. No one is really after the REAL truth of how or why the universe exists. The truth is they probably could not handle or comprehend the REAL truth because it cannot be put in a box or controlled.

I find this extremely interesting. I've also heard rumor that President Obama is addressing the public in regards to similar subjects the day after Thanksgiving. I was told that he's going to bring up 4 different accounts of contact on November 27th. Just a rumor? or has anyone heard more about this?!

I don't think the President will be anouncing alien contact after Thanksgiving. As for the Vatican, their response if probably 400 years too late for Giordano Bruno, whom they burned at the stake for suggesting inhabited worlds in his day. However, it's a definite step up from some of the more extreme fundamentalist Protestant sects in this country, which have basically stated that any intelligent alien life would have to be demonic, since the Bible does not state that God created aliens. Maybe we aren't ready as a species to meet any intelligent brethren in the cosmos. Our religious fanatics might kill them.

Don't make me laugh.........hahaha

Well at least the Vatican is not as backwards as it used to be. Mabey a century or two from now they will almost be as open minded as everyone else.

Monks with afros playing Metal and eating cotton candy in the pews.

All of this talk of the existence of Extraterrestrial intelligence is based on the belief that life evolved on Earth through chance and natural processes, a belief that has no more scientific evidence to support it than when Darwin wrote his Origin of Species in 1859.

i imagine a flying caucer coming down smoothly into the parking lot of a local chapel , somehow damaging the belfry in the process. the door falls off, and three, green, somewhat translusent blobuler aliens fall on the ground with a thump, one by one. they gather themselves with a deep breath, but choked! they somehow got inside the saucer alive. the saucer flew around like an injured bird and crashed on the chapel! the aliens, normly capable of surviving on earth, sued the parish and ,of course, won.

makes sense i mean the bible practically screams alien life. i mean have you read some of the descriptions of descending angels?

"And out of the north came a whirlwind, which atop, sat an amber light. It came to rest in front of ENOCH and out stepped four beings. And their faces were the likeness of of four creatures, a man, a lion, an eagle and an ox. They had cloven feet (bovine, deer), six wings each and forked tails." This is a passage out of the "Book of Enoch" which is very difficult to find in the "average" bible, because it speaks of beings that are clearly not human, yet are benign(non-hostile), and NOT described as being Angels.
For those of linear thought, "one cannot prove what one cannot disprove." The fact that every faith that attributes finite characteristics to a being who is, by their words, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, cannot be so if this being is finite as we are. It is only highly advanced. And as finite beings, we CANNOT COMPREHEND the INFINITE. Why do people fight over what what was said by who. F all that! Human beings are HERE and NOW!

What do you mean "AVERAGE" bibles is there something WRONG with mine?

Wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...sorry, did he say scientific fact?! 'After years of lagging behind in the acceptance of scientific fact...' Huh...would ya look at that he sure did. I know people are going to say its all semantics, but when did the existence of aliens become scientific fact? How in the world did I miss those headlines?!! The single biggest discovery EVER and I missed it...shucks! Seriously though, Stuart, this is not one of your best. Perhaps it is just poor wording, doubtful, cause it reads with implications that alien life is a scientific fact...but maybe you're just talking about scientific facts in general. I'm sure this article being nearly 2 years old now is not garnishing the attention it once did from you so I'm dubious that I'll receive clarification. Oh well...