The U.S. government on May 8 began releasing files related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) previously referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) generating nationwide speculation regarding government evidence of extraterrestrial life and nonhuman intelligence. But what does the Catholic Church have to say about it?
There is “no dogma or formal teaching” promulgated by the Church on the question of extraterrestrial life, according to experts, but prominent Catholic scholars and philosophers have contributed to the discussion around the centuries-old question, one that remains unresolved amid intense public interest.
For decades “contactees” have claimed to have encountered alien life either in the form of purported alien spacecraft or direct contact with extraterrestrials themselves. But such sightings and experiences have never been “proven” or confirmed by scientific bodies or governments.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a topic that in more recent decades has been viewed as little more than an esoteric fad, the Church has never pronounced definitively on the topic of UAP and alien phenomena in general.
But Luke Togni, a professor of religious studies at Saint Maryʼs University in Nova Scotia, Canada, said the Churchʼs official silence on the matter is arguably a statement in and of itself.
“You might say that the Church hasn’t pronounced on it through a kind of silence around the topic,” he said. “But it has permitted speculation.”
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