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From: Adriano Forgione <aforgi@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 23:04:16 CEST
Fwd Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 19:13:15 -0400
Subject: Forgione's Balducci Interview

Here is my interwiew with Monsignor Corrado Balducci, the
Vatican priest speaking about UFOs.

If someone wants to use my interview with Monsignor Balducci
please contact me first


Adriano Forgione
aforgi@hotmail.com

------

Interview with Monsignor Corrado Balducci

"Other intelligent beings exist"

The reality of the UFO phenomenon and its theological
implications: using reason, extraterrestrials are here. A
glimpse of their nature and a mention of the Third Secret of
Fatima.

by Adriano Forgione
(tranlation from italian by Dawn A. Bissel)

I met Monsignor Corrado Balducci at the Second Ufological
Conference of Ancona, entitled "Alien civilizations: between
doubt and reason" on 17 April 1999. Balducci, a demonologist of
the Vatican is a very open person with a pleasant manner who is
quite well known in the ufological circuit for having openly
declared that he believes in the possibility that
extraterrestrial intelligences are interacting with Earth. Are
his statements made on behalf of the Vatican? I tried to examine
the religious repercussions of contact with Monsignor Balducci.

Monsignor, where does your interest in extraterrestrial
intelligences spring from? I really became interested in ufology
a couple of years ago, even though I started talking about it on
TV about four years ago, in 1995. Actually, it all started in
1959 when I began to devote my time to studying demonology. As I
had to explore fields such as psychiatry and parapsychology, I
indirectly came into contact with topics linked to ufology. I
remember that in the Fifties, there was a tendence to deny at
all costs the object of parapsychological studies amongst the
public, some scientists and also amongst us clergymen. They said
that there was no basis for acknowledging parapsychology and
phenomena which were called nonsense and fantasy. To put it
simply, they denied everything. This was reflected in ufology,
which is linked to other frontier topics. As I collected
material, I realized that this generalized denial stemmed from
illogical fanaticism. There must be something there, even if you
just use your common sense, and, using reason, the phenomenon is
undeniable. Strict criticism goes against common sense because
it goes against the value of human testimonies. In recent years,
accounts of ufological events have greatly increased and yet
there are still too many people who tend to pass everything off
as nonsense. Of course, in many cases, natural phenomena for
example, may be wrongly interpreted, but it's absolutely
unthinkable to put eveything into that category. Total
scepticism is compeletly unjustified.

And what's happening at the moment in your field? I've never
told anyone this, but I'll tell you: some theologists have said
to me "Balducci, what are you doing, it's all just fantasy! ",
and they were important theologists, not just anyone. Then when
I explained my interest, I defended it tooth and nail so as to
say that it's time to change this attitude because if we go on
like this, we'll end up weakening and destroying the value of
human testimonies. This is what worries me because human
testimonies are the basis for our life as an individual, our
life in society but above all the basis for the spiritual life
of Christians, given that the Divine Revelation is a historical
fact that was testified to. God's Revelation is testified to by
people and by the gospels. If we believe in the accounts of
Biblical miracles, then using reason, we must also believe the
accounts of extraordinary events that happen today. It's obvious
that we must prove that every affirmation is based on credible
foundations. Above all, I decided to get involved in ufology in
order to defend human testimonies.

On various occasions you have said that the occupants of UFOs
could be more highly evolved spiritually than we are. I must
start by saying that angels do not use spaceships. As purely
spiritual beings, they are where they want to be and if they
wanted to show themselves, they wouldn't have any trouble taking
on  visible forms. So, when we talk about extraterrestrials, we
have to think either of beings like us or, preferably, other
types of beings who always combine a spiritual part with a
material part, a body, even though they have a different
relationship compared with us terrestrial humans.

Nowadays, science accepts the existence of forms of life in the
cosmos, even though it doesn't want to take into account the
fact that these intelligences could already be here in our
planetary sphere, at least in an obvious form. How does theology
tackle this problem? Opinions in favour of the habitability of
other worlds are held not only by secular scientists, but also
theologists and people who died and were made saints like Padre
Pio. The book written in 1974 by the priest Don Nello Castello,
"Cos=EC parl=F2 Padre Pio" ("Thus Spoke Padre Pio"), says that
someone in Padre Pio's confraternity asked him "Father, I
thought Earth was nothing compared to the stars and all the
other planets", to which Padre Pio replied "Yes, and if we leave
the Earth we are nothing. The Lord certainly didn't restrict his
glory to this little planet. On other planets, there will be
beings without sin.". I can also mention Cardinal Niccol=F2 Cusano
(1401-1464) who wrote "there is no star from which we are
authorized  to exlude the existence of beings, who may even be
different to us". The Jesuit and astronomer, Father Angelo
Secchi (1818-1866) wrote "It's absurd to consider the worlds
that surround us as uninhabited deserts". And I could go on and
on. Of course, we still don't have scientific confirmation of
this particular issue. However, in the field of theology and the
Scriptures we can make some observations. As God's power is
limitless, it is not only possible but also likely that
inhabited planets exist. In fact, there is a great difference
between angels, who are purely spiritual beings, and ourselves,
who are made of spirit and matter and whose soul is limited in
its actions by the abilities of the body itself. This is
explained by the axiom that Nature doesn't take jumps. And so
it's likely that the distance between us and angels is reduced
by beings who, although they have a body, maybe a more perfect
one, have a soul which is less conditioned in its evolution.
Probably, not only is this possible and likely but, in my
opinion, also desirable. In a not so distant future, these
beings could help us, especially on our spiritual path.

Some researchers think that this already happened in the past.
That's an interesting point. It's arguable that these beings
have been protecting and helping us for a long time. Some people
have put forward the hypothesis that some disasters have been
avoided thanks to them. If intelligent beings from other planets
really existed, we would find the solution as to how to
reconcile their existence with Christ's redemption. If Christ is
the centre and head of all creation, no world exists which
doesn't refer to Christ, as everything is under the influence of
the divine Word and His glory. And no glory is possible without
the existence of intelligent beings who can understand it. In
any case, it's absurd to think that the only form of
intelligence is our own. Other intellectual forces, different to
the human one and constructed with a different type of structure
is not only possible, but extremely probable.

Is your research personal or is it on behalf of the Vatican?
It's personal.

Twenty years ago, Father Domenico Grasso spoke publicly in
favour of the UFO phenomenon. Was it personal research for him
too? This research is absolutely personal. The Vatican doesn't
decide anything. We aren't told "study this or study that" but
it gives great freedom of action to individuals. In the Vatican
will be pleased when it knows that Balducci too has spoken about
ufology. We don't work according to specific orders, absolutely
not.

In your opinion, what are the possible implications of the
phenomenon for our current civilization or for the near future,
if we acknowledge a possible interaction between man and
extraterrestrial intelligences? That's a question which leads me
to think that it would be better if we knew what these beings
are like. I have already gone into this and I justified my
opinion with "likely". What you want to know depends on whether
they are inferior or superior to us. If they are like us, there
wouldn't be many implications, as they could have a civilization
on the same level as our own. It would be different if they were
superior beings. In that case a lot of presuppositions could
change.

According to some studies, visions of Blessed Virgin Mary are
connected to the UFO phenomenon. Some associated phenomena seem
to be of a ufological nature. What do you think? It's absolutely
out of the question. For pity's sake, Our Lady can do what she
wants, and definitely doesn't need a UFO.

Two years ago, an article was published in 'Il Messagero' which
quoted some of your statements about a nuclear war and a
celestial cataclysm which will happen within ten years. That was
a sensationalist article. The truth is, I said that they are two
risks we are running. The nearest is a nuclear world war, a
danger that's more real when there are two powers involved. So,
I speculated on who could be a possible opponent for America,
and I said China or the Arab world, but I didn't mean that this
would happen tomorrow. I pointed out that for near future I
meant around 2030. China first has to develop its commerce and
industry to the point where it has enough military power to
involve the West in a future war. (At the time of the interview,
the war in Kosovo was already under way - Ed). The danger could
also be that Russia, being in a destitute state, has already
sold arms, technology and people to Third World countries. But I
think that however small a country is, it thinks before dropping
an atomic bomb on the USA. And what do you think the other, more
distant danger is?

An asteroid hitting Earth. I hadn't thought of that. I was
actually referring to an ecological crisis which is growing
because of the increase in pollution which is faster than any
human corrective measure. But of course I'm not talking about
only surviving ten years.

Staying with this issue, in an edition of the magazine 'Visto'
three years ago, you partly confermed the text of the Third
Secret of Fatima which has been around for thirty years but has
never been backed by the Church. Yes. There are two things in
the Third Secret of Fatima. Everyone noticed the first, but very
few noticed the second. The first tells of a nuclear war before
the end of the millenium. From the context, that's clear. In
fact, the text talks about the use of arms that are more
powerful than a thousand suns. It's clear what arms are intended
if we look at what the text goes on to say: "the living will
envy the dead". This means that the people who survive the
nuclear weapons will suffer from radiation. The other, less
known aspect, is the doctrinal crisis of the Church. Three years
ago, I was interviewed by Canadian TV. I said: "Yes, the Madonna
of the Third Secret of Fatima says this, but no-one has noticed
that she first says that it will happen if mankind doesn't mend
its ways.". So its all conditioned by this previous remark. But
I am optimistic. We, as people, can influence the realization of
a prophecy, change the date and the intensity of the prophesied
events and mitigate them. The renewal of spirituality in the
young is a good omen. I mean to say, spirituality based on the
rules of the Church.

Do you believe that non-terrestrial intelligences could
intervene in a possible future cataclysm? I've already said that
it's possible for these beings to come to the aid of mankind.
Anyway, we shouldn't expect help from anyone, it has to be us
who change and mature.