I've been rolling the ideas for this post around for a while now, and haven't had time to sit down and write it.  Forgive me if I'm rehashing anyone else's work, as some of the material I've been thinking about has become a little dated in the interim.

As the X-Files sequel creeps toward a paltry $20 million dollars in total earnings, (#12 in the link) Chris Carter should be kicking himself for making that movie about anything besides aliens.  Many of us are driven by a curiousity like Mulder's; we want to believe in more than what we can see and know and prove.  That impetus to discover the unknown and unexplained is more compatible with faith than the Evangelical Bible-thumping Creationists would have people believe.  In fact, discovery and science may very well be humanity's divine purpose in the Christian theology, and you can help whether you're a Believer or not - more on that later.

The Vatican's Astronomer recently stated that devout Catholics are free to believe in aliens.  To discount life outside this planet would be to "set limits on the creative liberty of God."  Significantly, his comments were published in the Vatican's own newspaper, lending what some would call a papal endorsement to the Astronomer's views.  The article's publication sparked frenzied discussion among scientists, theologians, geeks, and other cootie-afflicted individuals throughout the world.

There is actually a long history of Catholic theologians pondering the existence of aliens.  Unbeknownst to many, the Church has vigorously supported astronomy, especially since the vindication of Galileo, funding a number of telescopes throughout the world.  The Catholics and/or Jesuits have actually been practicing astronomy since before Galileo.  A strong endorsement for the existence of extraterrestrial life can be found as early as the 15th century, in writing from a Cardinal Nicole Cusano, 1401-1464, who wrote "there is no star from which we are authorized to exclude the existence of beings, who may even be different to us."

The most interesting article I found was written about a Monsignor Balducci, a Vatican demonologist (read 'exorcist') who believes in extraterrestrial life and is among a group actively employed by the Holy See to quietly investigate extraterrestrial encounters and other phenomena.  Apparently, the Church has been quietly gathering information about ET's for a number of years from its Nunciatures (embassies) throughout the world - it's all detailed in the link.  You can find a lot on Balducci if you search, he has been making waves in recent months in ufo-chaser communities.  Here's an interview.

Getting back to how you can do God's work, help advance science, and look for little green men, SETI is the proud new mama of Paul Allen's baby, the Allen Telescope Array (ATA).  The ATA has the potential to accelerate the rate of SETI's scanning of star systems by around two orders of magnitude.  That's a huge leap forward.

Unfortunately, SETI's computing capacity is currently sufficient to about 10% of the task.  It won't have the supercomputers it needs for five to ten years, I think.

That's right.  Ninety percent of the data that these radio telescopes capture are not analyzed.  But that's how you can help.  If you have a high-speed connection, your computer can help SETI crunch some of that otherwise unsifted data. Go to SETI@home, download and install the software, and feel free to call Berkeley using Skype if you need help getting your computer set up.  You, too, can help in the search for intelligent life, from the comfort of your very own living room.

Mankind's exploration of space has had its share of fatalities and catastrophic failures.  But there are also extraordinary successes that inspire curiousity and wonder.  Spirit and Opportunity continue to roam the surface of Mars, two years and more after their mission was scheduled to end.  Voyager I and II, with only a handful of functioning instruments remaining, continue to faithfully send data back to Earth, more than 30 years after their launch.

Consider, finally, that God's first injunction to Adam in Genesis is to go forth and name all the beasts.  This was, arguably, the only command given to Adam before the Fall
from Grace.  If everything after Genesis is about how a race of original and obdurate sinners can regain God's favour, then this one command from before the Fall may very well be Mankind's true purpose, had he remained a perfect and sinless being.

I'll leave you with some quotes about this very topic from Earth, an excellent novel by David Brin, from which I'll admit I borrowed some of the ideas for this post.  If you've got a high-speed connection and idle your computer a lot, please help SETI.

Priest 1: "I think I see what you refer to.  The paragraph in which the Lord has Adam name all the beasts.  Is that it?  But that's a minor thing.  Nobody considers it important."

Priest 2: "Not important?  The very first request by the Creator of His creation?  The only request that has nothing to do with the repair work of mortality or rescue from sin?  Would such a thing have been mentioned so prominently if the Lord were merely idly curious?  ...Our original purpose was clearly to glorify God by going forth, comprehending, and naming the Creator's works.  Therefore, aren't zoologists, crawling through the jungle, struggling to name endangered species before they go extinct, doing holy labor?  Or take even those camera-bearing probes we have sent to other planets...What is the first thing we do when awe-inspiring vistas of some faraway moon are transmitted back by our little robot envoys?  Why, we reverently name the craters, valleys, and other strange beasts out there.  So you see it's impossible for the end of days to come, as your group predicts, till we succeed in our mission or utterly fail.  Either we'll complete the preservation and description of this Earth and go forth to name everything else in God's universe, or we'll prove ourselves unworthy by spoiling what we started with - this our first garden.  Either way, the verdict's not in yet."

Priest 3 (much later in the book): "We now strongly believe the oldest heavenly commandment commissions humanity to go forth, observe God's works, and glorify Him by giving names to all things.  In that quest, no human venture has dared so much or succeeded as well as Voyager.  It has given us moons and rings and distant planets, great valleys and craters and other marvels.  It plumbed Jupiter's storms and Saturn's lightning and sent home pictures of the puzzle that is Miranda.  No other modern enterprise has so glorified the Creator, showing us as much of His grand design, as faithful Voyager, our first emissary to the stars.