World

Pope Welcomes Martians To Catholic Service

Grae Stafford Freelance Photographer
Font Size:

Visitors to Earth from another planet are welcome at the Vatican.

According to the London Independent, the pope made the comments during a homily given on Monday dedicated to “concepts of acceptance and inclusion.” In it, he regaled the story of Peter, who made contact with a a community of “unclean” pagans. Francis explained that at the time, Christians in Jerusalem considered Peter’s actions “unthinkable” and “unimaginable.”

Francis continued: “That was unthinkable. If – for example – tomorrow an expedition of Martians came, and some of them came to us, here… Martians, right? Green, with that long nose and big ears, just like children paint them… And one says, ‘But I want to be baptized!’ What would happen?”

He reinforced his point by saying, “If then God gave them the same gift He gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”

Since he began his papacy in 2013, Pope Francis has been much more vocal in speaking out on issues than his predecessors — something has garnered him significant public attention. He was named “Person of the Year” by Time Magazine, while Esquire Magazine named him “Best Dressed Man of 2013” He has also appeared on the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and Forbes magazine has rated him No. 1 on their list of “50 greatest leaders.”

Follow Grae on Twitter