Executive Summary
Are we on Earth alone with God and the angels in this vast universe? Do we humans share the cosmos with any other intelligent forms of life created by God? The Catholic Church has made no formal, authoritative pronouncements on the existence, or even the possibility, of extraterrestrial life.
Even so, today speculation about the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) and other forms of nonhuman intelligence (NHI) is livelier than ever in the United States and throughout the world. The topic is the focus of countless science fiction novels and films, as well as social media sources. Scientists look for evidence of life beyond Earth through multiple technological means.
Civil and military authorities in the United States and other nations have established formal agencies to examine continuing reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) that cannot be explained by conventional, or even cutting-edge, technology. Elected officials are demanding more government transparency about these matters, with concerns about national security. Navy pilots and former officials of the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community have testified in the halls of Congress and in numerous media appearances about the reality of UAP, with reports of encounters with anomalous craft and even claims that nonhuman technology and nonhuman bodies have been recovered from crashed vehicles.
Meanwhile, stories of alien abductions or other close encounters have multiplied. New ETI-based religious traditions have emerged, while some have concluded that ancient pagan myths about the gods, and even biblical accounts of angelic beings, actually refer to creatures who visited Earth from other planets. Others now look for alien saviors to come down from the heavens. Many non-Christians insist that any public revelations of ETI would disprove the Christian faith.
All these developments challenge the Catholic Church to offer a clear, reasoned, and transparent response in the light of Catholic faith.
For the Church to develop an appropriate response to the current situation, we must recognize first that contemporary discussions of ETI, other NHI, and UAP are only the most recent phase of a debate in Western thought that stretches back at least twenty-six centuries. Fathers and Doctors of the Church, Catholic and other Christian philosophers and theologians, popes and bishops, friars and priests, scientists and political leaders, literary figures and saints have all taken part in the conversation.
This paper begins with a brief historical survey of that conversation. Such a survey is not intended to suggest that the possibility of NHI of various sorts has been officially affirmed by the Church, nor that such a possibility has never been challenged by Catholic and other Christian thinkers. It does demonstrate, however, that the Catholic intellectual tradition has in many ways made room for such a possibility since ancient times. Considering that history, the Church in the twenty-first century should not hesitate to take up the matter in a more comprehensive and straightforward way. The Church has left the door open wide for Catholic scientists, theologians, philosophers, and others to explore the topic.
The topic of ETI and other forms of NHI has become much more pressing today in light of the worldwide multiplication of credible reports regarding UAP. This development has earned more focused attention from scientists, government officials, theologians, and other scholars, as well as voices in social and other media. As a result, the NHI discussion has grown rapidly in significance, breadth, complexity, and gravity in the United States and beyond.
For many of those engaged in this conversation, the primary question has shifted from the theoretical “Are they out there somewhere?” to the more unsettling “Are they right here, right now, with us?” Both questions obviously have serious implications for our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it, particularly for Catholic faith and life. Therefore, they must be explored carefully, considering the Church’s Tradition and the relevant scientific and testimonial evidence.
Adherents of other religious traditions will no doubt be wrestling with these far-reaching implications as well, to one degree or another. The Catholic Church is uniquely situated to make a meaningful contribution to this wider religious conversation: It embraces an estimated 1.39 billion members worldwide. It enjoys a rich historical and lively intellectual tradition. And it possesses a multicultural scope and presence around the globe. For the Church to take a leading role among religious traditions in engagement with this matter could thus be transformative for the spiritual and cultural development of not only Catholics, but also other Christian and non-Christian communities.
What might the stages of that process of engagement look like? For what fundamental questions would we need to seek answers in each stage? What are some of the specific topics to be considered within each stage?
First, the Church could engage in a season of exploration and clarification regarding both NHI and UAP. In considering NHI, it would need to rediscover and explore thoroughly the relevant elements of its own tradition: theological, scriptural, philosophical, historical, and social. In considering UAP, it would need to examine not only the scientific evidence, but also the lived experience of Catholics and others who testify to personal UAP encounters. Such a broad and thoroughgoing investigation could lead to a more accurate discernment of how a traditional Catholic understanding of the cosmos might both accommodate and be expanded and enriched by evidence of UAP realities.
In this first stage, two fundamental questions would need to be addressed: Is the possibility of NHI (beyond the angelic) excluded by the Catholic faith—or is there room within the essential contours of that faith for a more complex, nuanced, and mysterious cosmic reality than we have commonly imagined? And if there is indeed room, what fitting place might that reality find in Catholic faith and life? Topics to be considered in this stage would include the many possibilities for the origins, spiritual status, corporeal status, capabilities, moral status, redemption, and final destiny of various forms of NHI.
The second stage of engagement (confirmation and assimilation) would begin if the world should have a compelling public confirmation by scientists, government officials, or even religious authorities of the existence of NHI. Perhaps even a public, undeniable encounter with that reality might take place to provide an indisputable confirmation.
At that time, Catholics and other Christians would need to assimilate the new empirical information through careful study, reflection, and prayer. Just as their spiritual ancestors had to grapple with the theological implications of the Copernican Revolution, as well as the encounter with previously unknown peoples of the Western Hemisphere, believers would have much to ponder that requires a response of “faith seeking understanding” (as St. Anselm once posited). Catholic leaders, both clergy and laity, would play an essential role in helping them meet that challenge.
In this stage, the pressing question would be how to provide relevant faith formation and effective pastoral care in such an unsettled, unsettling time. Relevant topics would include assessing and attending to the spiritual, psychological, social, and other impacts on both the parishioners and the clergy who are ministering to them.
A third stage of the engagement process (dialogue, discernment, and cooperation) could begin if—in an even more stunning development—open contact with NHI visitors should make some form of communication with them possible. At that time, the Church would need to engage in a carefully considered dialogue with our new interlocutors.
The essential question of this stage would be what could we learn from them, and what could we teach them. Such an ongoing conversation would present an opportunity for attempts to understand them (if possible) with regard to a number of topics: their understanding of God (if any), the cosmos, themselves, their ethics, and their intentions for engagement with us. We would also have the opportunity to tell them about ourselves.
How would we go about building an ethics of interaction with NHI? If their intentions in making contact seem to be benevolent, how might we prudently find common ground for a relationship of mutual benefit and goodwill? If their intentions are not benevolent, how would we attempt to persuade them otherwise? Failing that, how would we prepare for resisting the threat they represent?
The questions and topics proposed in this paper are offered as possible paths to understanding NHI and UAP. Such understanding could lead, then, to wise action by the Church at every level, from the Vatican to the local parish. The consequences of a public NHI confirmation would touch Catholics at each of these levels, of every theological orientation, in every walk of life, in every nation. Other Christians, adherents of other religions, and people of no faith would all be affected. The Church’s prudent and effective response could bring the light of faith to bear on the countless challenges such a development would pose.
A serious and sustained engagement with the subject of NHI, given the growing concern worldwide with UAP, will require prompt and multifaceted action by the Catholic Church. Proposed here are a number of concrete actions that could be taken by the Vatican; the bishops, along with their episcopal conferences and diocesan leaders; the parish clergy and lay leaders; religious orders and hospitals; Catholic schools; the Catholic academic community; Catholic publishers and other media; and the Catholic people in the pew.
Centuries ago, visionary Catholic thinkers were far ahead of their time in thinking deeply about NHI and other cosmic matters. Today, the Church has the opportunity again to demonstrate global leadership in searching for more of the truth about the greatness of God’s creation, and learning to live in accordance with whatever discoveries we may make. Will we take up that challenge? If so, we will need to proceed with a sense of wonder—an attitude of humility in the face of mystery.