RE: Stupid things religious people say
7 hours ago
(This post was last modified: 7 hours ago by Fake Messiah.)
Aliens and the Catholic Church
Does the Church teach that angels are the only form of nonhuman intelligence created by God? Is belief in extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) or other forms of nonhuman intelligence (NHI) contrary to the Catholic faith?
In the early twentieth century, research into paranormal phenomena was one of the many interests of the English Jesuit Fr. Herbert Thurston (1856-1939). A prolific scholar, he made extensive contributions to the Catholic Encyclopedia, writing on spiritual, historical, liturgical, and literary subjects. Thurston came to conclusions similar to those of Sinistrari: Numerous cases brought to exorcists, he reasoned, seem to involve examples of NHI that are not demonic.
The renowned Italian Capuchin friar, priest, and mystic St. Pio of Pietrelcina (also known as Padre Pio, 1887-1968) once declared emphatically in private conversation that other beings exist on other planets who did not sin and fall as we did.
More recently, Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005) was once asked in a public audience by a youngster, “Holy Father, are there any aliens?” Tellingly, the saint did not reply, “No, that would be contrary to our faith,” or “If they exist, then . . .” Instead, he said simply, “Always remember: They are children of God as we are.”
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online...lic-church
Does the Church teach that angels are the only form of nonhuman intelligence created by God? Is belief in extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) or other forms of nonhuman intelligence (NHI) contrary to the Catholic faith?
In the early twentieth century, research into paranormal phenomena was one of the many interests of the English Jesuit Fr. Herbert Thurston (1856-1939). A prolific scholar, he made extensive contributions to the Catholic Encyclopedia, writing on spiritual, historical, liturgical, and literary subjects. Thurston came to conclusions similar to those of Sinistrari: Numerous cases brought to exorcists, he reasoned, seem to involve examples of NHI that are not demonic.
The renowned Italian Capuchin friar, priest, and mystic St. Pio of Pietrelcina (also known as Padre Pio, 1887-1968) once declared emphatically in private conversation that other beings exist on other planets who did not sin and fall as we did.
More recently, Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005) was once asked in a public audience by a youngster, “Holy Father, are there any aliens?” Tellingly, the saint did not reply, “No, that would be contrary to our faith,” or “If they exist, then . . .” Instead, he said simply, “Always remember: They are children of God as we are.”
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online...lic-church
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
