Would you invite an extra-terrestrial to your church?

Br Consolmagno SJ

If you met an alien from outer space, would you welcome him into your RCIA program and baptize him at the Easter Vigil?

That's the question posed by Michigan-born Brother Guy Consolmagno, Jesuit astronomer and planetary scientist, in his latest book, 'Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?' The book, co-authored by Father Paul Meuller, SJ, looks at serious and humorous questions from the astronomers' in-box at the Vatican Observatory, and reveals how science and faith look at the same issues in different but complementary ways.

The question is a serious one. Pope Francis made the same point in a homily in May 2014 when he asked, "Imagine if a Martian showed up, all big ears and big nose like a child's drawing, and he asked to be baptized. How would you react?" The Pope was making the point that everyone has a "right" to receive the Holy Spirit-even those, such as big green aliens, who seem not at all like us.

This week at the 46th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Scientists in Tucson, Arizona, Brother Guy Consolmagno will receive one of planetary science's most prestigious awards, the Carl Sagan Medal.

To watch a video interview and Kathy Schiffer 's article on aleteia see: www.aleteia.org/en/scienvironment/article/brother-guy-consolmagno-popes-astronomer-wins-prestigious-science-award-5841872220061696