Catholics and Hindus in the Cosmos

Pope Francis has a way of making impromptu remarks, sometimes in informal conversations, sometimes in the midst of more formal occasions. Often they exhibit a somewhat quirky sense of humor. These remarks are picked up by the media and frequently blown up to imply a significant change in doctrine or practice, given a meaning that Francis did not intend. This happened recently with his saying in a conversation on an airplane trip that he will not be a judge of homosexuals. As was reported by Time magazine and other media, in a homily on May 12, 2014, Francis gave a whimsical example of the Church excluding no one: “If tomorrow an expedition of Martians—green men with a long nose and big ears, like children draw—came and wanted to be baptized—what would happen?” He said that he would baptize them. He then gave another example, closer to non-science-fiction reality: Baptizing children of unmarried cohabiting couples. Was he making an allusion and giving a signal of his intentions about a controversy raging especially in Germany: Whether divorced and remarried Catholics should receive another sacrament, that of communion? I don’t know, rather doubt whether that was his intention. I do agree with several commentators that more is involved here than the (not exactly urgent) possibility of a delegation of extraterrestrials clamoring to be baptized in St.Peter’s. There was a column about this in The Tablet on May 24, 2024, by Guy Consolmagno, SJ, Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory (What a great title! Did you know that there was such an agency?. What does it do?): He said that this was “a wonderful starting place to explore the meaning of baptism and redemption.” The column does not undertake such an exploration, but goes on about recent astronomical studies to determine possible chances for life in other parts of the galaxy.