Space Aliens, the News, and Those Catholics

"Vatican looks to heavens for signs of alien life"
The Associated Press (November 10, 2009)

"E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.

" '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, presented the results Tuesday 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...."

If this sounds familiar, you've been living in the western hemisphere, and possibly reading this blog carefully.

About this blog: the Lemming did a micro-review on a related news tidbit, back in 2008:

• "Vatican Says: 'Belief in Aliens Doesn't Contractict Faith' "
  (May 14, 2008)

About the western hemisphere: That chestnut about Galileo is true - sort of. As the old saying goes, "ignorance is bliss" - so if you want to stay blissful, stop reading right here.

Still with me? I wrote about Galileo and one of the more persistent fairy tales of post-Enlightenment Euro-American culture in another blog:

• "Copernicus, Galileo, Science and a Reality Check"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (October 26, 2009)

'Nuff said here. You'll find a few posts, below, including that Galileo one, that more-or-less connect with space aliens, science, or Catholicism.

Almost-related posts:

• "Copernicus, Galileo, Science and a Reality Check"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (October 26, 2009)
• "A Patron Saint of - Scientists?!"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (October 25, 2009)
• "Trilobites, Arthropods, Evolution, and Why Mothra Isn't Real"
  (October 17, 2009)
• "Change, American Culture, Trilobites, Humanity's History, and the Big Picture"
  (September 26, 2009)
• "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 20, 2009)
  Particularly
  • What If Darwin Had Been an Astronomer?
• "Catholic Church, Creationism, Evolution, Facts and Faith"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 5, 2009)
• "Vatican Says: 'Belief in Aliens Doesn't Contractict Faith' "
  (May 14, 2008)