Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?: … and Other Questions from the Astronomers’ In-box at the Vatican Observatory

In May 2014, Pope Francis revealed that, if Martians wanted to be baptized, he would welcome aliens to the Church. Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno and science historian Father Paul Mueller agree! Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? sheds provocative light on some of the strange places where religion and science meet.

So, could you really baptize an extraterrestrial? And exactly how do you reconcile the scientific version of The Big Bang with the Genesis account of creation? Is there really life after death, and will the universe eventually die? What then? Does the Vatican know something regular people don’t about an imminent end of the world? Why isn’t Pluto a planet, and what did the Vaticanhave to do withthat decision? Was the Star of Bethlehem just a pious religious story or an actual description of astronomical events? What really happened with the Church and Galileo? These questions and more will be explored in a book that will certainly shock and delight readers who love science and spirituality alike.