Vatican begins search for alien life

[hermetic]

"The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory.

Funes, a Jesuit priest, yesterday presented the results of a five-day conference that gathered astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology -- the study of the origin of life and its existence elsewhere in the cosmos."

Gee, this story didn't get much press, even though it came out through the AP. Conference was two days ago, maybe still going on. Googling has no new info, yet. Most stories are from publications outside the US. Surprise. The above quote came from the Irish Independent.
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/vatican-begins-search-for-alien-life-1939260.html

The Minneapolis Star Tribune did have it in their science page, other papers filed it under weird. Who knew the Vatican had their own observatory? I sure would like to hear more about this conference.

[Angel Wings]

1. Very interesting indeed!

I'd love to hear more too

[Helga Scow Stern]

2. It was on the front page of the Santa Fe New Mexican.

They always print interesting stories like this.

[Kind of Blue]

3. It got some coverage here in San Diego.

At least 3 of the local stations carried it on the 10th & 11th. I checked
http://vaticanobservatory.org/
but couldn't really find much on the conference, maybe you'll have better luck :)

Here's a snippet from one of the stations I thought was interesting, from the Associated Press article.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/10/vatican-looks-to-heavens-for-signs-of-alien-life/

"Earlier this year, the Vatican also sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."

The event snubbed proponents of alternative theories, like creationism and intelligent design, which see a higher being rather than the undirected process of natural selection behind the evolution of species.

Still, there are divisions on the issues within the Catholic Church and within other religions, with some favoring creationism or intelligent design that could make it difficult to accept the concept of alien life."

[Sanity Claws]

4. Hey,Pope, make me a missionary to the stars!

All joking aside, I wonder whether the Church will try to prostelytize the aliens.

[MorningGlow]

5. The truth?

I was watching a doc about aliens and UFOs several years ago, and they talked to a priest about what the implications would be to Catholicism if it turned out that there was life on other planets. The priest responded that it wouldn't be much of a jolt if it turned out there was life on other planets, because the Vatican's stance would be that God created all life, on Earth and elsewhere in the universe.

However, the scary bit was that the priest said the Church would feel it was their bound duty to teach the aliens about Jesus and try to get then to become Christians, because if they weren't baptized, they would go to hell.
:scared:

[Sanity Claws]

7. Really?

Adam and Eve are our ancestors, not the ancestors of the aliens. It was because of Original Sin that Jesus came to save us. (I was brought up Catholic.) Without the concept of original sin, Christianity and its emphasis on Jesus's suffering, death, and resurrection, does not make sense.
It seems that the Aliens may be purer and holier than we are because they are not dirtied by Original Sin.
But I still want to travel to the stars!

[MorningGlow]

8. Well

it won't be the first time that the Vatican kind of...erm...ADJUSTED their policies and then said "Hey, we never said that!" about the former position. :evilgrin: Likely won't be the last, either.

I was brought up Catholic too. My fundie-Catholic, Bush-worshippin', Rush- and Beck-lovin' aunt always asks with dismay "You went to Catholic high school! What haaaapened?" My answer is always, "I went to Catholic high school."
:rofl:

Edit: speling

[Sanity Claws]

9. Another ex-Catholic schoolgirl! Did you develop a phobia about plaid?

I did. I will never, ever wear plaid again. A birthday suit would be better.

[MorningGlow]

10. Hola, soul sister in oppression!

Navy blue, actually. I started Catholic school in 8th grade, when my public district hit the shitter, so I only wore plaid for one year. But then--four years of navy blue polyester in high school. :scared: On my honor, I couldn't wear navy for about a decade afterward. Not even burning our jumpers in effigy on the last day of our senior year alleviated the pain (and for the record, that thousand-percent polyester monster didn't burn; it melted and bubbled).
:rofl:

[Kind of Blue]

11. Crazy, but I love plaid.

:rofl: I guess I didn't get enough of it in grade school. High school - solid navy blue skirts for the winter and oh my, solid sky blue skirts in the spring!

[MorningGlow]

12. Sisters of Mercy high school?

Mine was. And yes, we had a light blue cotton dress for fall and spring that actually was made up of tiny blue and white pinstripes. Collar, buttons three-quarters of the way down, short sleeves with cuffs...naturally when we were allowed to defile our uniforms at the end of our senior year, we put prison numbers on the back.
:rofl:

[Sanity Claws]

13. I had a similar dress for May/June

We were taught by Sisters of St. Joseph.

As soon as we were outside the school, we used to roll up the skirts at the waist, to make them really short. I cringe when I remember how short we'd make the skirts and how bulky the rolled up waist was.

Your prisoner number idea to defile the uniform was great but I would have thought the numbers were for some sports team. I don't think prisoners had numbers, just ball players.

[MorningGlow]

14. I wish I had a pic of my uniform after I had gotten done trashing it

We hung it on the wall at my graduation party. (We also wrote all over them with permanent marker and we'd sign each other's uniforms like our yearbooks, and we shredded them--we wore shorts and a t-shirt underneath on that last day.)

Prisoner number--like this, but on the back:



Our lightweight uniform really did look like standard issue for a women's prison--coincidence? I think not!
:rofl:

[Kind of Blue]

16. Wow, I was taught by the Sister of St. Joseph's

in grade school in New Jersey. Woo, they were some mean and sarcastic gals.
Skirt hiking was a favorite past time. There was a public school nearby with gorgeous boys and we'd saunter by every day :rofl:

Get this, RNC Chairman Michael Steele went to a Catholic boys school across the line in D.C., not our brother school, also with a lot of gorgeous guys. All the girls absolutely loved him and flocked to audition for the plays. I didn't but would go to cheer my friends on, on opening nights. I thought he was kind of vapid back then, didn't ever think that he was so stupid :wow: I just can't believe what comes out of his mouth!

[Kind of Blue]

15. Exactly the skirts! Except for the puffy sleeves of the white shirts.

And oh, yes, collars strictly monitored. Of course, we defiled the uniform after school by hiking the skirts thigh-high and bosom-revealing plunging necklines :rofl:

edit to include Academy of the Holy Names. Except our brother school called us homely dames :rofl: WE WERE NOT!

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. Many years ago in a Playboy interview, Stephen Hawking told of his presentation at the Vatican.

IIRC, it said that they took him aside and warned him about going too far (with science). He gave them the verbal finger.

The Vatican better watch out for its karma, instead of aliens.