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Opinion L.A.

Opinion: Close encounters of the Catholic kind

By Michael McGough
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Semi-serious question of the day: Does the pope’s astronomer (yes, there is such a job) watch ‘Futurama’? The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reports that Dr. Guy Consolmagno, the Vatican’s senior scientist, has no problem with the notion of extraterrestrial life.

‘I’d be delighted if we found life elsewhere and delighted if we found intelligent life elsewhere,’ he said. ‘Any entity -- no matter how many tentacles it has -- has a soul.’ Asked if he would baptize an alien, he replied: ‘Only if they asked.’

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If an alien could be a Christian, why not pope? In which case ‘Futurama’ may be prophetic. The sci-fi cartoon show includes in its cast the Space Pope, a reptilian creature who wears a bishop’s miter.

Seriously, Consolmagno’s comments belie the idea that the Catholic Church is anti-science. (He also is critical of ‘intelligent design,’ calling it bad theology.) The church has come a long way from its dispute with Galileo.

--Michael McGough

Opinion L.A.
Michael McGough

Michael McGough is the Los Angeles Times’ former senior editorial writer, based in Washington, D.C. He wrote editorials for The Times from 2006 to 2021. Before that, McGough worked for 30 years for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a reporter, editorial writer, editorial page editor and Washington correspondent. He wrote about law, national security, politics, foreign policy and religion. McGough is a graduate of Allegheny College and also attended the University of Kent at Canterbury in England and Yale Law School, where he received a master of studies in law degree.

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