The following comes from a Dec. 16 report in the Oakland diocese Catholic Voice.
It’s “very likely there is intelligent life” elsewhere in the universe, a Vatican Observatory scientist told an annual gathering of Catholic academics Nov. 21.
The scientist, the Rev. William Stoeger, SJ, an astrophysicist on the staff of the Vatican Observatory, was the main speaker at an annual dinner of about 120 Catholic scholars hosted by the bishop of Oakland.
Scientists are now considering “pre-big bang physics,” Father Stoeger said. The universe is 14 billion light-years in any direction, he said, and with 300 billion galaxies in the observable universe, he suggested there could be one species of intelligent life per galaxy.
Creation is not just “an event back there,” Father Stoeger said. Everything is created by God and that there are intelligent beings leads us to believe in consciousness, imagination and mysteries.
Father Stoeger attended graduate school at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley and was a deacon at Newman Hall.
Oakland Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ, recognized Bishop Emeritus John Cummins on his 60th year as a priest. Bishop Cummins organized the dinner 37 years ago to bring together the faculties of the various area schools of higher learning.
Bishop Barber also recognized Robert Birgeneau, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley from 2004 to 2013 and a Newman Hall parishioner, with the Diocesan Medal of Merit, awarded to someone who has performed extraordinary service to the Church.
Birgeneau noted the social, intellectual and special role of the religious in the Church, explaining how a priest had given him advice and assistance when he was a 15 year old.
To read original article, click here.
Now to continue our regularly scheduled program, “The search for intelligent life on Earth: Scientists backtrack on earlier claims of having found an intelligent species living there.”
Kidding folks. Just kidding.
Too funny! You got a laugh out of me!
Good one, YFC.
“It’s “very likely there is intelligent life” elsewhere in the universe……”. “Everything is created by God and that there are intelligent beings leads us to believe in consciousness, imagination and mysteries.”
I wonder if Fr. Stoeger has accidentally stumbled upon the Catholic doctrine of angels and demons without even realizing it!?
Well, given how far our closest star is, and how difficult it is to travel those distances, even with a star drive or warp drive technology, its most likely impossible to cross the voids between galaxilaxies let alone, distances between stars. Its concievable that some day we will be able to visit another solar system, but its not in the near future for sure.
Alpha Centauri is the nearest star system to our sun. But, at 4.3 light-years away, getting there would be extremely difficult. Of course, in actual fact, Alpha Centauri is trillions of miles away from Earth. Its distance of 4.3 light-years equals 25.6 trillion miles away – nearly 300,000 times the distance from the Earth to the sun. You’d need about 10,000 shuttle main engines in sequence just to build up a decent speed (say, 1/100th light speed). The Space Shuttles weren’t starships. At a maximum speed of about 17,600 mph (about 28,300 kph), it would have taken a Space Shuttle about 165,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. So you need a new proportion system that folds space to move you from one place to the next, without actually moving the craft.
How do you even do that? We still have not been able to manipulate space.So, it would seem to me that the Creator did not want people living out there to meet. If it were possible, we perhaps would have visitors by now.
Pure speculation by a Jesuit Priest Scientist as was that poor soul, De Jardine, as is all theories about life as we know it in other planets or galaxies. The size of the Universe is nothing to God, if He wants the earth to be the only place where man exists, that is the way it will be!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
The existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life would raise some interesting theological questions. If such intelligent beings are not descendants of Adam, is Christ’s redemptive act applicable to them and their salvation?
Because Christ never mentioned it, nor any of the saints, I believe there is no intelligent life on the other planets. If there was or is life on the other planets, why have we never heard from them, and how come it was never divinely revealed to us?
Its practically impossible to travel to another star system. Even if we were to discover a way of folding space, the distances are simply too great.
Belief in intelligent beings outside of Earth is based on absolutely nothing. So many times in my life I’ve heard that “the universe is so wonderful and God is not limited”, ipso facto there must be life outside of Earth. What if there is not, does that limit God in any way, NO!! Every few years there has been a “discovery” of evidence of life elsewhere, from Martian Canals to meteorite rocks from Mars that fall in Antarctica (ha ha). After a few weeks or months all of them have proven to be inaccurate. When will the endless stream of garbage end. There is no proof of life outside of earth…period!!
God created Adam and Eve on Earth and came to Earth and saved all human life. All human life, intelligent or otherwise, is on Earth!!
KooKoo! KooKoo! KooKoo!
Tired old talking points by the physicists. Not one ounce of empirical evidence that intelligent life exists outside the earth’s solar system. They can only speculate. Did it ever occur to these guys that despite the universe’s immense size we are the only ones here. God came to this world and this one alone – period.
The Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley…says it all!
The Vatican took five hundred years to figure Galileo was correct. Perhaps this time they’ll have enough time on this one.
What if another world had its Adam and Eve. But Adam and Eve ignored the serpent and left the apple alone. ???
It’s like Sasquatch. It’s easy to say it’s “very likely” it exists, but they never come up with proof. The camera batteries always go dead, right?
Intelligent life out there somwhere in space? Speculation and wishful thinking. And don’t forget the grant money to be had for a fascinating proposition. There is no life in outer space. We have spent huge sums to prove that there may be. What we get back is a few crackling sounds from an otherwise unfathomable silent universe. Even if there were intelligent beings, the interstellar distances are so vast that technologically we could never make contact. God created the earth and everything in it. Believe it, it’s in Genesis.