Spirituality

Pope Leo XIV's new chief astronomer says he would 'baptize an alien'

By T.K. Randall
November 1, 2025

Image: Pope Leo XIV
Credit: Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) While it would be fair to say that the subjects of religion and space exploration don't typically come up at the same time, the mysteries of the universe are still on the Catholic Church's agenda, as evidenced recently by Pope Leo's appointment of a new chief astronomer - Father Richard D'Souza.

The 47-year-old, who will be heading up the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo near Rome, has stated that he would welcome extraterrestrial visitors and acknowledges that the discovery of alien life would prove to be a challenge for both society and religion in general.

Most notably, when asked if he would consider a baptism for an alien, he seemed open to the idea.

"Yes, yes," he said. "Theology would have to reimagine itself and take into consideration these other beings. They are all part of God's creation."

"They would be children of God. I believe in a benevolent Creator. He is behind everything."That said, he did note that baptizing an alien would pose some obvious logistical challenges.

"We do believe that baptism has to be in presence," he said.

"The question would be how to reach them or how they would reach us. These are the practical problems to solve before we even talk about baptism."

But would an alien civilization even have a religion, let alone one compatible with those of the Earth ?

It would certainly be fascinating to learn what sorts of belief systems extraterrestrials might have.

Source: Irish Star

Tags: Pope, Alien