Will the Pope take a call from ET in 2026?(Image: Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis, Corbis via Getty Images)
A British documentary maker claims the Vatican could be bracing itself for the prospect of an extraterrestrial encounter, with the Pope potentially addressing “first contact” with aliens in the coming year.
UFO researcher Mark Christopher Lee claims to have secured “rare access” to the Vatican’s confidential archives and is investigating historical accounts of unexplained occurrences that may shed light on humanity’s interaction with alien civilisations.
He suggests the Catholic Church is already contemplating the theological and spiritual ramifications of discovering extraterrestrial life.
Lee explained: “I’ve been given rare access to the Vatican’s secret archives. I’ll be looking for any historical references to unexplained phenomena, spiritual encounters, or anything that could shed light on humanity’s possible contact with intelligent life beyond Earth.
“If we are close to confirming intelligent life beyond Earth, no institution will feel the shockwaves more than the Catholic Church.”, reports the Daily Star.
“The new Pope could become the first spiritual leader in history to address First Contact – and I intend to find out how prepared the Church really is.”
He questioned: “Could the Church have been quietly preparing for this moment all along – and what might the new Pope reveal when the truth is finally confronted?”
Ufologist Mark Christopher Lee(Image: IMDB)
In his latest documentary God Vs Aliens, Lee contends that UFO encounters and paranormal events are connected, and maintains the Church may be considerably more receptive to the existence of extraterrestrials than most people realise.
Lee said: “Faith and prophecy have always guided humanity. Now, with UFO disclosure and global interest at an all-time high, these forces are converging in a way that has never happened before. 2026 could be the year everything changes.”
Vatican astronomers have historically maintained that the existence of extraterrestrial life wouldn’t contradict Christian faith. Back in 2008, Father Gabriel Funes suggested that intelligent beings created by God might exist beyond Earth.
In an article for the Vatican newspaper, he wrote: “Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures over the earth, so there could be other beings, even intelligent (beings), created by God.
“This is not in contradiction with our faith, because we cannot establish limits to God’s creative freedom. To say it with St Francis, if we can consider some earthly creatures as ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’, why could we not speak of a ‘brother alien’? He would also belong to the creation.”
More recently, Pope Leo XIV’s newly appointed astronomer revealed he would be willing to baptise an alien, describing extraterrestrials as “children of God.”
Father Richard D’Souza, who currently heads the Vatican Observatory near Rome, argued that theology would need to “reimagine itself” should humanity ever encounter intelligent life. He said: “They are all part of God’s creation. The question would be how to reach them or how they would reach us.”