(May 13, 2014 at 8:52 pm)Napoléon Wrote:Quote:Pope Francis has said that he would be willing to baptise aliens if they came to the Vatican, asking “who are we to close doors” to anyone - even Martians.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/...60632.html
So he'd baptise aliens, but not cats or dogs? What's the difference in the Church's eyes? Why do aliens and humans get souls but not every other species on Earth?
Not that aliens would be stupid enough to get baptised by Catholics or anything.
He was trying to make a point about offering baptism to those that ask, not make a metaphysical argument about the nature of aliens. As usual the Pope isn't careful with flippant examples and the media make a big deal about it.
However, to answer your question, any being which would ask for such a thing would be considered to have the power of language, that is, reason. For Thomas Aquinas, intelligence, is the immortal part of the human being that survives death.
Animals cannot ask for baptism or understand what it means.
