Vatican City (AFP) - Pope
Francis on Monday declared that everyone has the right to be baptised,
even aliens should they come knocking on the church's door.
Christians
cannot "close the door" to all those who seek baptism even if they are
"green men, with a long nose and big ears, like children draw," the pope
said at his daily mass, according to Vatican Radio.
"If
tomorrow, for example, an expedition of Martians arrives and some of
them come to us... and if one of them says: 'Me, I want to be
baptised!', what would happen?" Francis said in another display of his
lively sense of humour.
The
Argentine pontiff known for his down-to-earth style has often used
colourful and humourous expressions to make his points on the direction
of the Roman Catholic Church.
On
baptism Francis has stressed that it should not be refused, especially
to children whose parents may be breaking Church rules such as living
together as an unmarried couple.
As
for his humour, the first Latin American pope showed it from the
beginning right after being chosen leader of the world's 1.2 billion
Catholics in March last year.
"It
seems that my brother cardinals have gone to the other end of the world
to get one! But here we are," he told the crowd gathered in Saint
Peter's Square.
He later joked with the cardinals over dinner: "God forgive you for what you've done!"
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