The Catholic Church has made a number of very sensational statements regarding extraterrestrial life. The director of the Vatican Observatory, Jesuit priest Jose Funes, allowed the existence of other civilizations outside the Earth.
“Until today, we have not found any evidence that extraterrestrial life exists. But in the universe of billions of galaxies, each of which has billions of stars, the existence of life cannot be excluded,”he said during a conference held in Rome at the initiative of the Catholic Church.
Funes drew attention to the fact that the search for signals of the life of intelligent civilizations on other planets is necessary for people to better understand themselves and "realize their own source of life." The astronomer noted that the Catholic Church has always been interested in science, adding that you can never know what will happen to us, even in 10 to 15 years. “It is known about 350 stars around which the planets revolve. It is not excluded that among them there may be a planet similar in natural conditions to the Earth,”he concluded.
According to the astronomer, the Universe is by no means a "result of chaos", and its very nature is clearly and logically structured, which, in turn, allows people to conduct various scientific research, discover and understand physical laws. “Science allows us to think and find laws in nature that reflects order,” said Funes.
Pope Benedict XVI also made a statement on this matter, noting that science and faith in God are compatible, since both are necessary to preserve life on earth. “Faith does not come into conflict with science, but, on the contrary, cooperates with it. While science is discovering something new about man and the cosmos, faith shows what is really good for man and in what direction mankind should move."
Vatican astronomers conduct their research at one of the world's oldest observatories, Specola Vaticana. They also use a powerful telescope in the US state of Arizona and regularly take part in major international scientific conferences.