...and what if they want to "baptize" us?
Pope Francis Says He Would Baptize Martians, Asks 'Who Are We To Close
Doors?
Antonia Blumberg ("The Huffington Post," May 12, 2014)
Pope Francis said in his morning Mass on Monday that if Martians came to
him asking to be baptized he wouldn't turn them away, Vatican radio reports.
The pope's message was one of inclusion, saying the Holy Spirit is not
always predictable. He told a story from the Acts of Apostles in which Peter
observes a group of non-Christians receiving the Holy Spirit. Other
Christians later criticize Peter for consorting with these people, to which
Pope
Francis responded:
"That was unthinkable. If – for example - tomorrow an expedition of
Martians came, and some of them came to us, here... Martians, right? Green,
with
that long nose and big ears, just like children paint them... And one says,
'But I want to be baptized!' What would happen?"
Pope Francis would not be one to turn away someone seeking baptism -- even
if they were an alien. He urges clergy to foster an open door policy for
all to receive church teachings.
"Who are we to close doors? In the early Church, even today, there is the
ministry of the ostiary [usher]. And what did the ostiary do? He opened the
door, received the people, allowed them to pass. But it was never the
ministry of the closed door, never."
Pope Francis is not the first one to hint at alien baptism. Vatican
scientist Guy Consolmagno suggested in 2010 that aliens might have souls and
could
be baptized if they asked for it.
"Any entity – no matter how many tentacles it has – has a soul,"
Consolmagno said in a talk preceding the British Science Festival in
Birmingham.
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