ALIENS COULD BE REAL, SAYS VATICAN ASTRONOMER
ALIENS COULD BE REAL, SAYS VATICAN ASTRONOMER
(ANSA) - Vatican City, November 11 - Alien life is perfectly plausible even though there is no evidence yet for its existence, according to the Vatican's top astronomer.
Speaking at the end of a weeklong conference on astrobiology, Father Jose Gabriel Funes said extraterrestrial life was a valid area of study.
''Although astrobiology is a new and developing field, questions on the origins of life and the presence of life in the universe outside Earth are legitimate issues and merit serious consideration,'' said the Jesuit astronomer, who heads the prestigious Vatican Observatory.
The conference was organized by the Pontifical Academy of Science in order to debate the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.
It brought together physicists, chemists, astronomers, biologists and geologists from different parts of the world to discuss their research and findings.
The official conclusion of delegates was there are ''plausibly'' millions of inhabitable planets in the Milky Way alone, itself one of billions of galaxies in the universe.
US astronomer Chris Impey, who also addressed the post-conference gathering, said there was ''a palpable sensation that the universe hosts forms of life and a hope that the first discoveries will be made within a few years''.
Greek-French astronomer Athena Cousteinis, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, pointed to satellites in our own solar system of interest to astrobiologists.
''Europa, a satellite of Jove, is thought to host a vast, frozen stretch of water, the first element for life, under a vast sheet of ice,'' she said.
''Saturn's system has another two satellites of particular interest: Titan and Enceladus. The first is more like Earth, with a nitrogen-dense atmosphere and climatic and meteorological cycles similar to those of Earth.
''Enceladus, a smaller moon, is spraying large quantities of water and organic material into space. These elements indicate the discovery of conditions that could be suitable for the survival of living organisms''.
Vatican assertions that the theory of evolution is not incompatible with Catholic doctrine have been more categorical than ever before this year, which marks 150 years since Charles Darwin published his seminal 'On The Origin Of The Species'.
But this is not the first time that Funes has expressed his belief in the possibility of extraterrestrial life forms.
''Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on Earth there could be other beings, intelligent ones, created by God,'' the Argentine priest said in an interview last year.
''This does not clash with our faith because we cannot set limits on God's creative freedom. To quote St Francis, if we view earthly creatures as our brothers and sisters, why can't we speak of a brother from another planet?''
Funes, who took over at the Vatican Observatory in 2006 after an evolution flap involving the former head, also suggested aliens might not need to be 'saved' to enter Heaven, especially if they were ''more evolved'' than humans.
