José Gabriel Funes
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Fr. José Gabriel Funes, S.J. (born January 31, 1963 in Córdoba), an Argentine Jesuit priest and astronomer, is the current director of the Vatican Observatory. He has a master's degree in Astronomy from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina and a doctorate from the University of Padua in Italy. He has also a bachelor's degree in philosophy from University del Salvador in Argentina and a bachelor's degree in theology from Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. A member of the Society of Jesus, he was ordained a priest in 1995. He joined the Vatican Observatory as a researcher in 2000, and was named its director on August 19, 2006 replacing Fr. George Coyne.
In an interview in May 2008 [1]he stated that the possible existence of intelligent extraterrestrials did not contradict church teaching[2][3] and ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom. [4] He has speculated that such alien life forms could even be “free from Original Sin … [remaining] in full friendship with their creator.” [5]
[edit] References
- ^ [1]Full text of L'Osservatore Romano inteview translated into English
- ^ L'Osservatore Romano: The extraterrestrial is my brother, Vatican astronomer says believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God
- ^ Vatican says aliens could exist. BBC (13 May 2008). Retrieved on 13 May 2008.
- ^ It's OK To Believe in Aliens. Associated Press (13 may 2008). Retrieved on 14 May 2008.
- ^ mental_floss Blog » “Aliens Are Our Brothers,” says Vatican
