The Pope has endorsed the belief that intelli­gent life may exist elsewhere in the Universe. An article published in the Vatican’s official newspaper in May insisted that belief in the existence of extraterrestrials does not conflict with faith in God as the creator, or of Christ having died for mankind’s sins. The idea of intelligent aliens has long been a thorny issue for the more extreme factions of Christianity. Some orthodox believers insist that because the Bible does not mention aliens, ufonauts must be angels or demons. Catholicism, though, has tended to sit on the fence and wait for scientists to provide some evidence for ETs. It’s ironic that the author of the article, Fr Jose Funes, a Jesuit, got his job at the Vatican’s Observatory after Pope Bene­dict XVI (above) sacked his former chief astronomer following clashes over the theory of evolution. In his article, Funes follows the SETI claim that somewhere in the vast Universe there must exist planets capable of hosting life. “Numerous creatures exist on the Earth,” he wrote. “Similarly intelligent life created by God could exist elsewhere. This cannot contradict our faith because we cannot put limits on the creativity of God… it would all be part of creation.”

Independent, D.Express, 15 May; BBC Radio 4 Beyond Belief, 14 July 2008