An interesting article, perhaps, but Mr. Overbye clearly presents just a surface look at Catholic theology and thought processes about extra terrestrial life, mixed with his apparent skepticism [shown in the form of Clarke's story] about the morality or rationality of such a worldview. No real depth, no apparent ability to see the theological equivalence, in this case, between someone in a remote uncontacted tribe in the Amazon and an extra terrestrial, and a host of further issues that I frequently see in someone who seems to subscribe to Stephen J Gould's 'non-overlapping magesteria' ideals. Kind of feels like a short Vanity Fair or Rolling Stone article on a complex technological topic.

If Clarke's story ideas are tantalizing to the reader, I would suggest reading Perelandra by C.S. Lewis for a [admittedly dated] view from the other side of the equation. (I know of no similarly posited and argued Catholic story, so my apologies for suggesting a strongly Protestant one after the Catholic points in the article).