This time, Catholic church is ready: theologians see little problem if push to space yields discovery of life on other planets - Feature

National Catholic Reporter, Feb 27, 2004 by John L. Allen, Jr.

Gargantini said that where the church and science collide, it's sometimes because the church is playing a unique role in Western culture as the "conscience" of science. He cited the message delivered by Pope Paul VI on July 20, 1969--the day of the first moon landing--as an especially poignant example.

In his Angelus address that day, Pope Paul marveled at the technical accomplishment behind the moon landing, but warned against a possible "idolatry of technology" that risks trivializing the human person. The pope said that no technical wizardry can ever resolve the basic questions of "What is the human being?" and "What is good?"

The sang-froid theologians are showing today about space exploration may be sufficient for the kinds of life explorers are most likely to encounter: fledgling strains of plants or micro-cellular organisms. But what if a more "X-Files"-style scenario were to develop, in which rovers on Mars or elsewhere actually meet sentient, intelligent beings?

"If there are other persons in the universe, we can at least say that they too are involved in the same divine plan and are intended to share in the Trinitarian communion of life," Di Noia said.

If personal life were to be discovered, both Di Noia and O'Collins said it would require some theological tinkering, especially with the concept of original sin. How can persons on other planets share in the stain of guilt derived from Adam and Eve, from whom they are most probably not descended? Yet if they don't, what exactly is the condition from which Christ has redeemed them?

Di Noia said the prospect of encountering personal life is so remote, his instinct is to "worry about it when it happens." The most that can be said, he told NCR, is that all creatures in the universe are included in God's plan for salvation.

"We'd have to work on it a little bit, I suppose," O'Collins said. "But anyone who thinks the doctrine of original sin is more important than Jesus being the universal savior already has their priorities out of line."

In the end, O'Collins said, if there are extraterrestrials, Christians can state with confidence that they too are saved by Christ, even if the question of saved from what will take some reflection.

Another perspective comes from Jesuit Fr. George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory, which has its headquarters in Castel Gandolfo, the pope's summer residence outside Rome, and research facilities in Arizona.

At the moment, scientists are working on a new generation of ultra-powerful telescopes that will be able to scan planets outside the earth's solar system for signs of life. The technology for this "Large Binocular Telescope" is based on a technique pioneered by the Vatican observatory team, so ironically, if extraterrestrial life is discovered though the lens of one of these instruments, it will have been the Catholic church that paved the way.

Coyne provocatively suggests that stars are like "God's sperm."

Every sperm has the potential to produce life, he says, but most of them never realize that goal. Like sperm, Coyne said in a 2003 interview, "each star is fired with a propensity for life, but there is no reason to think any of them have achieved this."