Extraterrestrial Brotherhood

The official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, recently ran an article entitled, "The Extraterrestrial Is My Brother" in which Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory, told the paper that it was certainly possible that life forms could exist on other worlds, and that the existence of such life would not pose a problem for those of the Catholic faith.

Funes went on to say that if intelligent life existed on those worlds, they could be considered extraterrestrial brothers and sisters.

Although the concept of intelligent lifeforms on other worlds being our spiritual brothers and sisters might seem to be a new concept, it would fit well with the teaching of the Mormon Church which has taught this principle since its foundation.

It is also worth contemplating how this statement fits in with other statements or procedural changes that have been made in recent years by the Catholic church, specifically, the return to the use of Latin in the Mass, and doing away with the concept of Limbo.

Fox News Story
Catholic News Service Story

Online Life Affects Offline Behavior

In a TIME magazine article published Monday, May 12th, Kristna Dell reports on the impact that the use of online Avatars (personal characters created by users) can have on the real world behavior of those using the Avatars.

This is more than just a curiosity or social oddity. Second Life, a highly popular virtual world on the internet which uses Avatars, has over 13 million registered users. The Second Life virtual world has shopping districts, distinct neighborhoods, parks, beaches, clubs, etc. Where previously there was concern that individuals would get lost in online chat rooms, Second Life, or other such virtual worlds provide not just a chat "room", but a complete virtual world.

World of Warcraft, which is a war game played in a virtual world, while not using Avatars also provides opportunity for individuals to lead virtual lives online. World of Warcraft has over 10 million subscribers.

Although the TIME article points out that in an appropriate therapy setting these virtual worlds might actually aid patients, it would seem that for many no real benefit is being gained. Conversely, what may be lost is not only time, but real world associations and perhaps even portions of an individuals real world personality.

Time article

Pope to send text messages to youth during World Youth Day

Several news services are reporting that the Catholic Church has decided to send text messages from the Pope to the estimated 225,000 youth who will participate in the World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney, Australia in July of this year.

The sending of inspirational text messages is not new. It has been possible for years to subscribe to services which would send you a daily inspirational message.

That the Catholic Church is using this technology with the specific intent of reaching out to young people is noteworthy for two reasons:

1. because it demonstrates their interest in the youth of their church, and in reaching out to that demographic, and
   
2. because is shows their willingness to adopt new technologies.
   

The prevalence of cell phones throughout the world even where landlines do not exist, and the incredibly large numbers of people that use cell phones for texting rather than voice communication makes this mode of communication worth understanding for any organization which wishes to reach out to large scattered audiences, particularly young audiences.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24501557/