It's Okay for Catholics to Believe in Aliens

The Catholic Church, many of whose adherents believe the Virgin Mary has appeared in tortillas, grilled cheese sandwiches and underground walkways in Chicago, are also now free to believe in space aliens:

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures.

The interview was headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother." Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.

After you've seen the mother of God in a grilled cheese sandwich, how hard could it be to believe in aliens?