~ an excerpt from a recent BBC interview with Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ

“Brother Guy Consolmagno studies the nature and evolution of small bodies in the solar system. He is curator of the Vatican meteorite collection – one of the largest in the world – at the Vatican Observatory.”

We Jesuits are actively involved in the search for Earth-like planets.

The idea that there could be other intelligent creatures made by God in a relationship with God is not contrary to traditional Judeo-Christian thought.

The Bible has many references to, or descriptions of, non-human intelligent beings; after all, that’s what angels are.

Our cousins on other planets may even have their own salvation story – including other examples of the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity. We are open to whatever the Universe has for us.

I am, however, sceptical that we will be able to have these conversations with any life form that is discovered… certainly, not in my lifetime!

The idea that there might not only be us is a wonderful one. It does not question our uniqueness or contradict our belief in God. For most people, if new forms of life were to be discovered, it would not mean everything they believed was wrong, it would only reinforce what they believed all along.

John Herschel, son of the discoverer of Uranus and a founder of the Royal Astronomical Society, argued that it would have been a waste of a Universe if God had only created one place where there were people He loved. This is not an argument based on logic, science or philosophy, but an aesthetic one.

The important thing is to keep in mind that the Universe is the deliberate creation of a loving God. Catholics should not be afraid to embrace such speculations, but we should always remember that they are just speculations. We don’t know. But reflecting on these possibilities lets us appreciate in a deeper way what God’s redemption actually does mean for us.

My science tells me how God created the Universe and that he loves that Universe.

We shouldn’t be afraid of the truth.

I would be delighted if other Earths harbouring intelligent life were discovered. For most people, however, it would be nothing more than a nine-day wonder. I think that we’ve lived with the idea so much, from speculations by scientists to creatures in science fiction movies, that the human race is already well used to the idea that we are not alone.

We need to look beyond ourselves – that’s what religion does when it’s done right and what astronomy does when it’s done right.

Read the entire interview.