article about science and religion joining

THis is from my local news paper........ its getting closer lol

E.T phone Rome: Vatican hosts conference on possible alien life
By Ariel David, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, November 10, 2009


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In this Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, file photo, Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi looks on near a portrait of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, part of the "Galilei Divin Uomo" (Galilei Divine Man) exhibit, in the Santa Maria degli Angeli Basilica in Rome. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Sandro Pace, File

VATICAN CITY - E.T. phone Rome.

Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the centre 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.

Funes said the possibility of alien life raises "many philosophical and theological implications" but added that the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue.

Chris Impey, an astronomy professor at the University of Arizona, said it was appropriate that the Vatican would host such a meeting.

"Both science and religion posit life as a special outcome of a vast and mostly inhospitable universe," he told a news conference Tuesday. "There is a rich middle ground for dialogue between the practitioners of astrobiology and those who seek to understand the meaning of our existence in a biological universe."

Thirty scientists, including non-Catholics, from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Chile attended the conference, called to explore among other issues "whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds."

Funes set the stage for the conference a year ago when he discussed the possibility of alien life in an interview given prominence in the Vatican’s daily newspaper.

The Church of Rome’s views have shifted radically through the centuries since Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other ideas, that other worlds could be inhabited.

Scientists have discovered hundreds of planets outside our solar system - including 32 new ones announced recently by the European Space Agency. Impey said the discovery of alien life may be only a few years away.

"If biology is not unique to the Earth, or life elsewhere differs bio-chemically from our version, or we ever make contact with an intelligent species in the vastness of space, the implications for our self-image will be profound," he said.

This is not the first time the Vatican has explored the issue of extraterrestrials: In 2005, its observatory brought together top researchers in the field for similar discussions.

In the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said in that interview.

"Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God’s creative freedom."

Funes maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would also be considered "part of creation."

The Roman Catholic Church’s relationship with science has come a long way since Galileo was tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant his finding that the Earth revolves around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the centre of the universe.

Today top clergy, including Funes, openly endorse scientific ideas like the Big Bang theory as a reasonable explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

Earlier this year, the Vatican also sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s "The Origin of Species."

The event snubbed proponents of alternative theories, like creationism and intelligent design, which see a higher being rather than the undirected process of natural selection behind the evolution of species.

Still, there are divisions on the issues within the Catholic Church and within other religions, with some favouring creationism or intelligent design that could make it difficult to accept the concept of alien life.

Working with scientists to explore fundamental questions that are of interest to religion is in line with the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made strengthening the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

Recent popes have been working to overcome the accusation that the church was hostile to science - a reputation grounded in the Galileo affair.

In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared the ruling against the astronomer was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

The Vatican Museums opened an exhibit last month marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first celestial observations.

Tommaso Maccacaro, president of Italy’s national institute of astrophysics, said at the exhibit’s Oct. 13 opening that astronomy has had a major impact on the way we perceive ourselves.

"It was astronomical observations that let us understand that Earth (and man) don’t have a privileged position or role in the universe," he said. "I ask myself what tools will we use in the next 400 years, and I ask what revolutions of understanding they’ll bring about, like resolving the mystery of our apparent cosmic solitude."

The Vatican Observatory has also been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world’s best.

The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has his summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.

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On the Net:

Vatican Observatory, http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo

peppermint, sage, and hyssop, yummy.

Each pope is going to be different
as we have seen in papal history...

at first, all you had to do was be rich and declare yourself one...LOL

it had little to do with religion and more with greed...

Roman Catholics will always be that and no other religion
or individual should do their best to destroy that 'cause it
opens the door for RC's to "right back at ya'" and that wouldn't
be acceptable .... Harmony sounds good.

The wealth of the Vatican is disturbing it seems...
The rules are based in family life
Better to have rules than none at all.
Life in general has loosened up some, at least for Americans;
but Chaos isn't the answer; Rules are still the better discipline.
Hopefully, less control and more Harmony will come of it.

John Paul II was an understanding Soul. A Unity Pope.
Blessings in his memory.

I do have reservations regarding murder in rituals even Aztec slayings...
(deeper history and meanings with all that) and most of all if i am
commiting the murder so I just "don't go there" . Those religions
are the "no-no" religions.

"Good" enough religions should be left to worship without
dimembering them...LOL... I THINK

ET's will be considered a creation of GOD...there you have it
so that means everyone on Earth is a creation of GOD at least that is acceptable...LOL
Why push a religion where it doesn't want to go;
there is place for everyone.

off soapbox now....LOL...ty

Im a firm believer in that religion and science should merge ( i think ive touched on this in almost all y posts). In regards to sacrifice.... i always remember to them.. and when it was popular, most of the world thought that it was right to do so ( even today many countries still do this... but im not getting into that definetly a heated debate ), but every religion has lots of good truths to them.

I dont really agree with some of the things that the vatican has done in the past ( once again, each pope was different), but this is a good start. I just wish the vatican would open up its library. Its has books that havnt seen the light of days fer a thousand years.. Now im not trying to disrespect anyone in any way, but when i remember that, i always wonder why they hide it under lock and key, and entering it unbidden is punishbleby death ( is a proven fact). Do they have something to hide? Why cant we know what may be hidden? Doest religion teach us to know ourselves and our beginnings? There are books by every single denounced scientist in the lst 1000 years, and it probably hold artifacts older then that as well.

if, in fact, the library has such wonders
in this day and age photographing them would
kind of insure, Like the national Treasures...LOL... of the United States
(at the Lilly Library?) their unecessary perusal of billions of folks....
OUCH!

it would really be ENLIGHTENING
they must have done that already anyway
interesting info

unraveling topic, for sure
ty C

usually Politics and Religion are touchy-feelly subjects
LOVELOVELOVE

From what ive read... alot of the information is either "secret", or some sources state that some of the information doesnt make the church look to well. Which, in my opinion, if i was in that position, i wouldnt want anything to make me look bad. Im posting a link fora movie...very very good...

Does make you wonder what kind of Truths may be hiding behind the closed doors of the Vatican Library and i feel that one day these books/scripts/literature will eventually reach the mainstream of all Humanity so that we may conclude our own truths by what has been hidden for a long time.

Many Blessings

I think the time is soon......