by JasmineL-17, 27 May 2008

The last thing you'd expect to hear from the Vatican is that aliens could exist. However, astronomer Father Gabriel Funes recently declared that other life forms could exist in the universe. He has said that other beings created by God could exist in the universe and that this search for other life forms is perfectly in line with a belief in God.

I've always believed that we can't be the only beings in the universe. It's so vast and un-explored, of course there could be other planets in distant galaxies with intelligent life forms. But the Roman Catholic Church's official recognition of this is unprecedented. Finally, religion is pairing with science, a move that I believe will be beneficial to both parties.

I've always thought that science and religion could and should coexist and now the Catholic Church is taking steps to make it happen. Said Father Funes in the BBC article, "Science and religion need each other, and many astronomers believe in God."

The Church is even sponsoring a conference to honor Charles Darwin and his 200th birthday. I'm excited for the church's move toward science, especially the honoring of Charles Darwin. Hopefully this will help quell the rift between science and religion and end the rejection of evolution in the religious community - or at least lift the ban on teaching evolution in some schools, a very disturbing practice indeed.

Read the whole article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7399661.stm