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Published: November 13, 2009
“Many philosophical and theological implications”
Pontifical Academy of Sciences considers possibility of extraterrestrial life
VATICAN CITY, 10 NOV 2009 (VIS) -- The conclusions of a study week on astrobiology, organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Vatican Observatory, were presented this morning in the Holy See Press Office.
Participating in the press conference were Fr. Jose Funes S.J., director of the Vatican Observatory; Jonathan Lunine, professor at the department of physics at Rome's Tor Vergata University; Chris Impey, professor at the department of astronomy at the University of Arizona and the Steward Observatory in Tucson, AZ, and Athena Coustenis, professor at the "Observatoire de Paris-Meudon,” LESIA/CNRS, France.
"Why is the Vatican involved in astrobiology?" asked Fr. Funes in his remarks. “Although astrobiology is an emerging field and still a developing subject, the questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very interesting and deserve serious consideration. These questions offer many philosophical and theological implications".
"Astrobiology is the study of life's relationship to the rest of the cosmos: its major themes include the origin of life and its precursor materials, the evolution of life on earth, and its future prospects on and off the earth,” explained Professor Lunine. ...The study week provided a special opportunity for scientists from different basic disciplines to spend an intensive week understanding how the work in their particular specialty might have an impact on, or be impacted by, that in other areas. Nowhere is this more evident than in the work being done on how life formed on the earth and evolved with the changing environment."
For his part, Professor Impey observed that "if biology is not unique to the earth, or if life elsewhere differs bio-chemically from our version, or if we ever make contact with an intelligent species in the vastness of space, the implications for our self-image will be profound. It is appropriate that a meeting on this frontier topic be hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The motivations and methodologies might differ, but both science and religion posit life as a special outcome of a vast and mostly inhospitable universe. There is a rich middle ground for dialogue between the practitioners of astrobiology and those who seek to understand the meaning of our existence in a biological universe."
The press conference on the study work -- held in the Vatican's Casina Pio IV from 6 to 10 November -- concluded with the remarks of Athena Coustenis on the subject of the exploration of outer planets and their systems.
Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 4:25 AM By WOODY GUIDRY
The Church is wise in studying possible controversy long before a movie based on falsity can scare everybody. May we be spared yet another of the umpteen thousand panics caused through the centuries re the "end of the world"!
A new movie seeks to profit by discussing "the end" by year 2012- adding to the current ignorance being played upon.
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 6:42 AM By tom byrne
This topic is actually discussed briefly in the Baltimore Catechism of the early 1960s under the section on Creation. Clearly even before Vatican II the thought had been entertained by orthodox theologians.
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 6:43 AM By Chuck Anziulewicz
For an excellent speculation about how the Vatican might respond to contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, I would highly recommend the novel "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell, and its sequel, "Children of God."
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 8:10 AM By Linda
I'm told the 7th Day Adventist "prophet" Ellen White claimed that GOD revealed to her that there are other planets that OBEYED HIM (unlike Adam and Eve). White claimed that Earth is the only planet that isn't living in harmony with HIM! That makes Earthlings the screw ups of the Universe if it is true! Smile....
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 8:35 AM By Eric
We all know there is not life, other beings, on other planets; sorry Trek-ies. We humans are so special, so unique that God has created what seems to be infinite space all around us, as far as we could ever find a way to explore, as one of his many ways of showing us just how unique and special we are to Him. Knowledge is good and we know for fact God creates everything so go ahead, search and debate. Be prepared though that some out there in the field of science and astrobiology are dead set on trying to disprove God and Creationism. Hopefully when those who reject God and His plan of Creation fail, and face the truth in the facts, they will come to accept the truth and not cling to a “theory” with gaping holes of error throughout.
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 9:27 AM By JLS
The flying saucer crowd still has to reckon with the question of where the end of it is located and when it began, and the limits of time.
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 12:10 PM By John F. Maguire
Astrobiology is a perfectly legitimate field -- or perhaps better, a perfectly legitimate sub-field -- of bio-empiriological investigation in general. That astrobiology, in particular, would prompt a host of questions sounding in philosophy and theology should come as no surprise. After all, a SUB-sub-field in astrobiology investigates the question whether or not intelligent life exists extraterrestrially. ~ Marie I. George is well-known for her investigation of this question from a Thomist point of view. In her article "Aquinas on Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Life," Marie George draws our attention to the fact that St. Thomas "takes care to avoid speaking in such a manner as to prejudice divine wisdom." That said, George draws our attention to the fact that "Aquinas does not see [such] existence [i.e., intelligent extra-terrestrial life] as posing difficulties to the faith." Why not? Because the Catholic Faith and sacred scripture are ordered to our salvation, not to an augmentation of empirico-cosmological knowledge, nor to an augmentation of biological knowledge, nor yet to an augmentation of astrobiological knowledge. ~ Another question then: What does Aquinas, for his own part, think? "Aquinas does not favor the idea that other human-type beings exist because he thinks that the human soul represents the very lowest type of intelligence, whereas the human body represents the very highest material body [in the universe]. However, he does remain open to the possibility [of intelligent extra-terrestrial life]." See Marie I. George, "Aquinas on Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Life" _The Thomist_, 65, 2 (April 2001), pp. 239-258.
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 12:29 PM By John F. Maguire
Aquinas does NOT explicity deny the existence of extraterrestrial life. Rather, he specifies his own nescience --his own lack of knowledge. What he does explicitly deny is the PRABABILITY that other human-type bodies exist. He does so, as M. I. George has pointed out, for two reasons: (1) The intelligent human soul (the anima intellectiva) represents the very lowest type of intelligence, whereas the human body represents the very highest material body. That, I think, is a brilliant argument. ~ Now, however, in respect to Aquinas's second reason, he splits his argument in two. In short, he cites [a] one reason in favor of the existence of other human-like creatures and [b] one reason against such existence. Marie George explains: "On the one hand, [a] the human species would reflect God's goodness in a special way by being unique, while on the other hand, [b] it is fitting to God's goodness that he create more and better creatures. Aquinas leans in the direction of the former view, but realizes that the latter could in fact be the case. And by doing so, he gives us an example of the circumspection that this matter demands."
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 2:16 PM By Dan
Yawn. The Church has enough problems here on earth. Seeing that we are 25 trillion miles or so to the nearest star, that we have not yet the tecnhology to travel safely to mars, that "warp factor 9" is nothing but entertainment, it seems to me this is much ado about nothing, about as important as determining how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. If the human species survives long enough to explore the reaches of our own solar system, I would think that something of a miracle. In short, let's bring the discussion back down to earth where it belongs.
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 2:22 PM By pete
It is really rather pointless to have such hypothetical speculations. WHEN THERE ARE FACTS OF ACTUAL EXTRATERRENIAL LIFE, THEN the discussion would make sense.
One can not argue from mere quantity ( billions of galaxies), that there MUST BE life elsewhere, because ALL CREATION byDIFINITION is NOT NECESSARY, and depends SOLELY on the free will Decree of God. So until HE would reveal that to us or we BUMP INTO IT. It remains just a POSSIBILITY..
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 5:53 PM By John F. Maguire
On the contrary, Pete, the question of extra-terrestrial life, however speculative in the hypothetical sense of the word speculation, is intrinsically interesting -- and a real test of one's philosophical and theological grasp of the created cosmos and its relation to the Creator. Making sense of the ET issue shsould not be deferred as if it were dependant upon the existential condition of there being actual extra-terrestrial intelligence. It's true, as you say, that all Creation is "NOT NECESSARY" in the sense only God is NECESSARY BEING. St. Thomas certainly understood, from his synthetic grasp of what is known by reason and what is known from revelation, that the created universe is absolutely contingent upon the will of the Creator, both because the Creator created uncreated being out of nothing (ex nihilo) and because the Creator sustains created being in being here-and-now (as we say from our temporal point of view). But no, as Marie George suggests, St. Thomas did not think that this great truth meant that he should shelve the question of intelligent extra-terrestrial life
until such life showed up at his doorstep. The Vatican, I am happy to see, is in agreement with St. Thomas on this point.
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Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 8:31 PM By Janet
I just saw the new film, "2012'. When the time comes, none of us will have to worry about all the silly questions that take up so much space on this, and other, sites. We will all be staring GOD in the Face. How many of us will be worthy of HIS Compassion and Mercy?
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Posted Saturday, November 14, 2009 8:41 AM By Tom Amadeo
In church matters,nothing ever takes precedence over saving souls(salus animarum suprema lex).Instead of extraterrestrial speculation the church should concern itself in terra salvation. It might start by ridding itself of criminals in the clergy who make church property as unsafe for children and young adults as any back alley.And until the church cleans up the abominable practices of its bishops who reward someone who should have been excommunicated publicly with a scandalous funeral extravaganza,with not one word of condemnation by the Vatican---until then,I, for one don't want to hear about E.T. alla Vaticana.
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Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 11:29 AM By 1abqdad
As a top engineering researcher for a national lab, I was involved in considering this issue many years ago. The failure of this analysis is typical. They have failed to consider ALL of the factors required for life to survive above the cellular level...temperature or to be more exact, temperature variations/fluctuations must be considered! (Similar to the nonsense at NASA, claiming the life could exist on Mars with insane variation in temperature that would preclude the existence of ANY complex life! (I worked with NASA, and ALL that they worry about is making up "findings" that would justify spending more money on worthless research! ) So-called "complex" life demands a very small variation in temperature within a very small range, that is simply NOT found anywhere else in the universe! Without strict environmental controls, man can NOT exist in a "harsh" environment! Now, what is required for the very slight variation that exists on earth? When you combine these temperature requirements ON TOP OF the chemical, hydrological, and atmospheric ones, the potential for "life" (Read complex life) on other planets is for all extensive purposes impossible! Most people do NOT understand the science behind these studies. (Or lack thereof.) In this case, they are faulty because they did NOT consider ALL of the issues/factors! (We saw this type of terrible, worthless analysis all of the time!) While I will certainly agree that these people did consider a few factors, they did NOT go beyond a very limited consideration of very few factors, which is NOT useful in the end! They DID qualify their conclusions, but the reporters are NOT able to understand the implications of those qualifiers, which render the results useless!...Much like the games that NASA plays to get more money for "further study", which gives them a future! (It's ALL about maintaining funding...NOT doing good work!) Sorry, but there is NO reason for celebration by the alien watchers...
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Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 5:48 PM By JLS
Janet, are you now following a movie instead of Christ?
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Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 5:58 PM By JLS
What if man travels to the edge of space and finds that there are no more things beyond it? Man cannot even imagine or think up such a possibility of what it could be like. Man does not have the ability to know or find out. This fact must frustrate a lot of men, so that all they have left is to try to trick themselves and others into whatever relatively paltry concept they come up with. Big money in research grants for ideas that no one can say can't be looked into, and movies. In ancient times they had mystery religions, and of course they have them today, but often with modern technology instead of cruder artifacts. Maybe they think that every time they come up with a new view, that they've arrived. But Jesus said through Solomon that there is nothing new in this world. Jesus also said that He is the Way, the Truth and the LIfe and that the only way to God is not going to be by spaceship or any other product of the intellect including ideas and images. That is why Jesus is humble and contrite of heart, even though He can create from nothing and annihilate a creature into nothing.
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Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 6:03 PM By JLS
Here again we find Maguire pitting a game of some sort against the Truth. And then he tries a slick move of saying that St Aquinas did not say there were no flying saucers. Well, Jesus did not say it either. Jesus however did say that the way to God is through Himself. So, how does Maguire go to God through something other than Jesus? He evidently thinks he can get there by churning up one iotional reference after another without ever connecting the dots ... I'd call this sort of starstruck ... just like looking at the stars at night and making up yarns about how they are connected. Good thing we have the sign of the Cross to claim as our birth sign, instead of having to be pigeonholed into one of the zodiac fantasies.
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Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 7:17 PM By Anne T.
1abqdad, I guess that rules out the idea that some of the ancestors of the people with the RH negative blood factor came from outspace.
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Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 7:18 PM By Anne T.
Excuse me, please; I meant "outerspace".
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Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 9:09 PM By John F. Maguire
In reply to Tom Amadeo: The principle SALUS ANIMARUM SUPREMA LEX is the highest principle of Canon Law but, as such, no, this principle (in trasnlation: The salvation of souls is the [Church's] highest law] is NOT to be understood as governing questions of soteriology, that is, this priniciple is NOT to be understood as governing questions pertaining to the universal concern of theologians, namely, Why did God become Man. Why? Because God's highest motive was the salvation of souls? Is that true? Well, but would not have God become man were there not a Fall? In that case, the highest motive of the Incarnation is not the salvation of souls but God-become-Man as "first-born in all creation" (St. Paul) -- not "first" to be sure in the chronological sense but first-born in the ontological order, i.e., first-born in the order of dignity. Whence the doctrine that CHRIST, precisely in HIS SACRED HUMANITY, is the motive joined, to be sure, to his redemptive mission as motive as well. ~ Mr. Amadeo, even if we were to dismiss the thesis that *were there not a Fall, yet the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity would nonetheless have become man* -- I mean, dismiss this thesis, say, on the solid ground that we cannot base a theological proposition on counter-factual knowledge (in all actuality, there WAS a Fall), still in regard to the differentiated "motive" of the redemptive Incarnation, is not the primacy of Christ as first-born of all creation to be understand as differentially higher than the motive of salvation of souls? To answer this question in the affirmative is to embrace the doctrine of the PRIMACY OF CHRIST. Franciscan theologians, in particular, have investigated and developed this doctrine.
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Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 12:59 PM By Tom Amadeo
JFMaguire:Anyone who reads these posts critically has probably concluded that one of us is from outer space! My point above was that the Roman church would serve the Lord and humanity better by making salvation its first priority.Catholics properly should demand this of their church.How many human souls would be saved buy finding life of any kind on Mars,Venus,or Pluto? Further,you state ,"The salvation of souls(salus animarum) is NOT to be understood as governing questions of soteriology" when by definition soteriology is the study of the doctrine of salvation! Philosophically and theologically,God cannot be motivated by anything outside of Himself.And since God is a perfect workman that which He creates(man) has God alone as its purpose(finis). In Latin terms,the finis operis( purpose of that which is made ),and the finis operantis(the purpose of the maker) must be identical. Again,my point is: I demand,as a Catholic,that my church concern itself with salvation,and get out of Mars! JFM-I do hope you have a nice trip back to Pluto.There may be a Jesuit seminary there.
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Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 2:20 PM By Doug James
So what if there are extra-terrestrials? Would Roman Catholic Doctrine change? I hardly think so! Besides, mankind has not captured nor introducted a single extra-terrestrial celebrity to the public in our world and it may be centuries before that happens. My bottom-line as a space-science fiction lover, and former aerospace engineer working on manned and unmanned flights is that this subject is OK to meddle/tinker with, but let's not lose sleep over it nor invest alot of time in it. There are alot more important things that the Roman Catholic clerics need to do like saving souls by teaching the Catholic Catechism for Catholics and non-Catholics conversions, conferring the Holy Sacraments to dispense Sanctifying Graces, and saying public Tridentine Latin Masses for us to please God for the salvation of our souls. Most if not all of us will never visit or meet an extra-terrestrial; but all of us will die and face our Redeemer and Lord Jesus Christ. It is better that our hearts, souls, and minds are better prepared for His coming at our deaths, than to preparing ourselves for the very unlikely (in our life-time) "stellar" event of meeting extra-terrestrials. Many parents don't baptize their children anylonger! Many new heterosexual couples don't have their marriage blessed anymore, and many people die today without the Sacrament of Extremeunction or even a religious funeral service. Their has been a breakdown and loss of Faith in their once Catholic families. If those that remained behind only knew of the suffering their deceased relatives were going through, they would live life differently pleasing and believing God. The Rosary when said devotedly, daily, and humbly will bring you closer to our Lady of Sorrows and Her Son our Lord and Savior. Is it to much to ask for each of us to pray 5 decades of the Rosary over a 30 minute period each day for all the suffering they have absorbed for us? Blessed Mother is our key to our Jesus' Sacred Heart, seek Her!
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Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 8:36 PM By JLS
It just hit me, what Maguire was alluding to with his index book of all books ever written: Isn't that idea in Faust by Goethe? I never read that the greatest novel in Germany's history by its greatest fiction writer, who spent 60 years writing it. But, there is some old motif in storytelling that is similar. Yeah, Maguire comes up with some really suspicious stuff, but he wouldn't know it because he cannot connect the dots ie the vast number of references he lists. I used to do that in a few college papers, but submitted to correction. One prof handed my paper back almost completely soaked with his red corrections pen. I had appealed my paper's grade from the grad student (a former Navy officer) and the old professor dropped it yet one more notch. But my next one came through the wash a lot better, as I "understood" that they would not put up with my gameplan to bamboozle them. Readers should realize that there are all sorts of mysterious things "out there" which writers make use of to pull fast ones over on their readers. In my previous post (not sure if posted) I put forth the idea that Maguire might have a jinn. That is one such thing that writers can do to gain influence ... Faustus has such a motif or submotif.
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Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 8:41 PM By JLS
So, Doug James, what I hear you saying is that you won't be joining us when we sneak into Area 51 to look at the space alien bodies stored there.
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Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 8:45 PM By JLS
More seriously, Doug J., you say something really excellent here that I've never quite "seen" before: " If those that remained behind only knew of the suffering their deceased relatives were going through, they would live life differently pleasing and believing God." This is a gem in my book.
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Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 9:32 PM By John F. Maguifre
What can I say, Tom Amadeo? When St. Paul teaches that Christ is the first-born of all creation, "all" really does -- most certainly -- include the planets you listed: Mars, Venus, Pluto, etc. ~ On the matter of the "motive" of the Incarnation, that is, on the matter of St. Anselm's question CUR DEUS HOMO (Why did God become man?), any answer will necessarily identify a "motive" -- indeed, there is a huge theological literature on the "motive" of the Incarnation. Still, as Fr. Jean-Francois Bonnefoy has pointed out, the word "motive" here is never used as if "motive" posited something "moving" God who, after all, is Pure Act (such "motive," as you say, is metaphysically impossible). ~ Tom, I agree: Soteriology pertains to salvation. But what this means is: Soteriology pertains to salvation as, and just as, salvation is related to the PRIMACY OF CHRIST as first-born of all creation.
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Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 9:40 PM By John F. Maguire
In reply to Douglas James: The problems you list are pressing problems, but they do not gainsay St. Thomas's
systematic treatment of the question of intelligent extra-intelligent life. See Marie I. George, "Aquinas on Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Life," _The Thomist_, 65, 2 (April 2001), pp. 239-258.
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Posted Wednesday, November 18, 2009 5:48 PM By Steven
Little green Catholic Aliens? Has the Church had some form of divine revelation or is it just trying to get ahead of the curve?
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Posted Thursday, November 19, 2009 1:08 PM By John F. Maguire
In reply to Steven: Since the Church's public revelation closed with St. John's _Apocalypse_; since, moreover, this public revelation pertains to our salvation, not to an augmentation of our astrobiological knowledge, it must needs be denied that "the Church [has] some form of divine revelation" pertaining to astrobiology or astrobiology's
most salient and popular question, namely: Is there to be found in the cosmos intelligent extraterrestrial life? If the Church is in possession of no such (ETI) revelation -- as indeed she is not -- then, Steven, you plausibly move on to pose an alternative question: "...or is [the Church] just trying to get ahead of the curve [with her express interest in this subject]?" Here, too, I would argue that the answer is No. On the ETI issue as on other issues, the Church, evidently, has by no means been behind the curve. Indeed, that curve has been prominently shaped by the Church's intellectual tradition. In so arguing, I do not for a moment intend to blink away pre-Christian speculation nor early-modern speculation nor modern speculation on the ETI question. See generally Michael J. Crowe, ed., _The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity to 1915: A Sourcebook_ (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2008); Michael J. Crowe, _The Idea of a Plurality of Worlds from Kant to Lowell: 1750 -1900_ (Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1999); also see Marie I. George, _Christianity and Extraterrestrials?: A Catholic Perspective_ (2005) and Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee, _Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe_ (New York: Copernicus Books/Springer-Verlag, 2000).
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Posted Thursday, November 19, 2009 1:12 PM By JLS
St Thomas Aquinas makes sense, but Maguire does not.
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Posted Thursday, November 19, 2009 5:25 PM By John F. Maguire
JLS: Since the specific reference in this thread is St. Thomas's treatment of the question of intelligent extraterrestrial life, and since my posts concur in St. Thomas's treatment of that question, I consider your attempt to counterpose St. Thomas's sense-making and my own sense-making to be arbitrary. In no way does my position on the ETI question differ from that of St. Thomas. ~ Besides, JLS, what careful thought strives for is not sense-making ("Makes sense to me!"), but rather legitimate sense-making -- warrantable sense-making.
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Posted Friday, November 20, 2009 3:49 PM By Steven
The next best step for the Church would be to concede to the scientific fact that the Earth is much older than 6,000 years. The Earth is 4.5 billion years and the universe is 13.5 billion years old. The Church may want to wait for some ET's to explain it to them instead of getting the information from their own kind. It's just a thought.
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Posted Friday, November 20, 2009 5:49 PM By JLS
Maguire, you spin what you find in St Thomas Aquinas, and the result has no resemblance to the Saint at all.
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Posted Saturday, November 21, 2009 8:34 AM By Grisha
There was an article on this in the Weekly Reader, a newsletter for Catholic grammar schools when I was in the 5th grade. It concluded that if Jesus had appeared to people on other planets they could be saved as well. Otherwise, they'd be pagans.
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Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 12:24 PM By John F. Maguire
JLS: No spin on my part, Thomistic spin or otherwise. As regards Aquinas's treatment of the ETI question, I've simply quoted from Professor Marie I. George's excellent article, "Aquinas on Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Life," _The Thomist_, 65, 2 (April 2001), pp. 239-59.
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Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 2:59 PM By Grisha
Ah, Thomas Aquinas, the Pontifical Academy and the boys I ate lunch with in the 5th grade at Our Lady of Victory in Fresno. Great minds DO travel in the same direction!
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