Guy Consolmagno is a trained astronomer and planetary scientist, who works as one of the pope's astronomers, recently stated in an interview that he would be 'delighted' if intelligent life was found among the stars.
This Vatican scientist also said that aliens might very well have souls as he said that
the traditional definition of a soul was to have intelligence, free will, freedom to love and freedom to make decisions. During an interview at the British Science Festival in Birmingham he jokingly replied to a question on this subject that "Any entity – no matter how many tentacles it has – has a soul." Would he baptise an alien? "Only if they asked."
The Vatican official also dismissed intelligent design as "bad theology" that had been "hijacked" by American creationist fundamentalists.
Consolmagno said that: "The word has been hijacked by a narrow group of creationist fundamentalists in America to mean something it didn't originally mean at all. It's another form of the God of the gaps. It's bad theology in that it turns God once again into the pagan god of thunder and lightning."
Brother Consolmagno did urge caution with the line of questioning around religion’s response to life beyond this planet when he said:
"But the odds of us finding it, of it being intelligent and us being able to communicate with it – when you add them up it's probably not a practical question."
Consolmagno also said that the Vatican was well aware of the latest goings-on in scientific research. "You'd be surprised," he said.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, of which Stephen Hawking is a member, keeps the senior cardinals and the pope up-to-date with the latest scientific developments.
Consolmagno was asked to respond to Hawking's recent statements that the laws of physics removed the need for God. Consolmagno said: "Steven Hawking is a brilliant physicist and when it comes to theology I can say he's a brilliant physicist."
Consolmagno's comments come at a time when the pope himself made comments regarding science at St Mary's University College in Twickenham as part of his British tour. Speaking to pupils, the pontiff encouraged them to look at the bigger picture, over and above the subjects they studied.
"The world needs good scientists, but a scientific outlook becomes dangerously narrow if it ignores the religious or ethical dimension of life, just as religion becomes narrow if it rejects the legitimate contribution of science to our understanding of the world," he said.
"We need good historians and philosophers and economists, but if the account they give of human life within their particular field is too narrowly focused, they can lead us seriously astray."