VATICAN CITY — Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican’s chief astronomer said in an interview published yesterday.

The Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, the Reverend Jose Gabriel Funes, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

“How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?” Rev. Funes said. “Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother,’ and ‘sister,’ why should we not talk about an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? It would still be part of creation.” In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Rev. Funes said that such a notion “doesn’t contradict our faith” because aliens would still be God’s creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like “putting limits” on God’s creative freedom, he said.

The interview, headlined “The extraterrestrial is my brother,” covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.

Rev. Funes said science does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy. The Bible “is not a science book,” Rev. Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most “reasonable” explanation for the creation of the universe.