Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?

This is a series of conversations, set in specific settings, on a half dozen topics coming from the sorts of questions we get asked all the time at the Vatican Observatory- ranging from the Big Bang to the Star of Bethlehem, from Galileo to Extraterrestrials. Neither science nor religion are big books of facts; they are conversations about how we understand those facts. This talk seeks to show that conversation – to show how a life of faith and science is lived. 

Br. Guy Consolmagno has a decades-long track record of communicating planetary science to the public while maintaining an active science career. In addition, he occupies a unique position as a credible spokesperson for scientific honesty within the context of religious belief. Br. Guy uses multiple media to reach his audience. He has authored or edited six books, with "Turn Right at Orion" in its fourth edition of publication. This book alone has had an enormous impact on the amateur astronomy community, engendering public support for astronomy.  In Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? a variety of questions at the crossroads of faith and reason are explored: How do you reconcile the The Big Bang with Genesis? Was the Star of Bethlehem just a pious religious story or an actual description of astronomical events? What really went down between Galileo and the Catholic Church – and why do the effects of that confrontation still reverberate to this day? Will the Universe come to an end? And… could you really baptize an extraterrestrial?