Sacraments for Aliens

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BornInMarch said:
It turns out that the Catholic Church has not ruled out the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
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As it turns out the person who wrote the article on the Vatican observatory website hasn’t ruled out the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

The Church doesn’t have anything to say about it as far as doctrine goes.
BornInMarch said:
Moreover, if a science fiction story features space travel then there’s a 90% chance it will involve interactions with sapient extraterrestrials.
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Fiction stories have talking cats, alternate realities, and magic, too. I don’t understand your point. It’s fiction.
BornInMarch said:
Assuming we humans encounter extraterrestrials at some point in the future (and that the Catholic church is willing to let them join, and that at least some of them want to join), I am curious as how the sacraments will be adapted for non-humans.
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There is no answer for this.
 
I will of course defer to the Church, but it would seem we’d have a Jew and Gentile pre-Christian situation, with no means to convert. By this I mean, perhaps over-simplistically, that you had to be Jewish to be subject to the Law. Even if Gentiles could (and should) worship and offer glory and praise to the one true God, even come to the Temple to do such things, that didn’t make them part of the Jewish nation.

My understanding of our Church and sacramental theology is that it is exclusive to humans. Our understanding of “the bad news” is that human nature was wounded by Adam’s sin, and we are all united in that. But the good news is that human nature finds it redeemed in Jesus Christ, in whom we participate via the sacraments.

The key ideas being human nature, descent from Adam, original sin being inherited by natural generation, and Jesus being descended from Adam and whose sacrfice is tied to redeeming Adam’s sin. Basically, the Church, the sacraments, Christ’s sacrifice, is for human nature, the children of Adam and Eve and those who die and rise again in Christ.

Aliens don’t fall into that paradigm. It’s not that God couldn’t or hasn’t redeemed them (if they needed it), it’s just not what Christ’s offering was about.

So aliens couldn’t be part of the Church in the sense of the Church being a nation/the new Israel, they couldn’t participate in the sacraments, though we could certainly encourage them to offer worship and to give glory and praise to God.

I am open to correction. I’m just relaying my understanding.
 
Only for fun. His theology is not 100% off, but he also can tweak it for a larger audience than those of his own faith.
 
BornInMarch said:
It turns out that the Catholic Church has not ruled out the possibility of extraterrestrial life. …

Assuming we humans encounter extraterrestrials at some point in the future (and that the Catholic church is willing to let them join, and that at least some of them want to join), I am curious as how the sacraments will be adapted for non-humans. …
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They will not be. That’s been settled since the early centuries. Only human nature was assumed at the Incarnation.

Done. Settled.
 
tweedlealice said:
If aliens, who are Gods creation, too can have knowledge of God and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, If baptized in the church. They are part of the Mystical body of Christ
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No. It doesn’t work that way.
 
What if they look exactly like us and we can’t tell the difference?
What if they sneak in to get baptized?
What if they have magical powers and convince us they are sent by God and trick us?
What if they conquer us and force us to join their new alien religion?

Other than that, if they come, I hope they come … to me first!
 
Lee1 said:
To find out if I sleepwalk I sprinkle talcum powder all around my bed and turn off the light. In the morning I wake up and there are no footprints because all the talcum powder is gone, aliens …or did I sleep hoover?

(Just a thought experiment.)
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It proves a theory I’ve had for years, but have been unable to prove myself.

In certain alien cultures, talcum powder is used as a form of currency, because it’s so rare on their own planets (think “the alien version of gold”).

The real reason aliens visit our planet is that they’re coming here to collect talcum powder.
 
Not claiming he is a theologian, but, his treatment of Catholicism in relation to alien races is careful and respectful.
 
I’ve just found a link, twenty different uses for baby powder, not one of them mentions bribing aliens, are you sure about this Father?
 
I don’t know, is the priest wearing a space helmet? If he is his voice may be muffled somewhat anyway.

The next time I see a shape shifter I’ll ask about his or her preferences, I actually saw one recently, though you might call them removal persons.
 
Lee1 said:
I don’t know, is the priest wearing a space helmet? If he is his voice may be muffled somewhat anyway.

The next time I see a shape shifter I’ll ask about his or her preferences, I actually saw one recently, though you might call them removal persons.
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And I guess where the ceremony is performed is going to have a bearing on the situation. After all, they can’t hear you scream in space.😜
 
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Lee1 said:
I’ve just found a link, twenty different uses for baby powder, not one of them mentions bribing aliens, are you sure about this Father?
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That proves that aliens don’t want us to know.
 
There are, in fact, entire talcum “mining” operations, but the alien equipment is slightly out of synch with our reality and thus we can’t perceive it.
 
As much as I like science fiction and stories of human-alien interaction, this is going straight into the not-going-to-worry-about-it-until-it-happens folder.

D
 
Lets say that there is a alien race on another planet. They have the same intelligence as humans do and we come in physical contact with them. One human falls in love with one of them and as a baby that is half human and alien. Can they receive sacraments? I mean can the baby receive sacraments?
 
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po18guy said:
What’s next, confession for Slenderman?
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The architectural problems with extended the ceiling heights on every confessional for one creature alone would cost the Church millions.

By the way, I would love, in my own imagination, that if aliens arrived that Jesus Christ had visited their planet and went through the exact same passion so that the entire world would have no doubt of him any more… Eh, they probably would still anyway.
 
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I was going to ask if you’d been reading your Lewis. That’s definitely a point he makes - there’s no guarantee that any aliens would have fallen in the first place.
 
DNA compatibility would make them human, in some mysterious way, much as the peoples of the Americas and Polynesia.
 
I will give OSC that. Probably because he is aware of the behaviors and attitudes of many of his co-religionists.
 
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