José Gabriel Funes
Encyclopedia
Fr. José Gabriel Funes, S.J. (born January 31, 1963 in Córdoba
), an Argentine
Jesuit priest
and astronomer
, is the current director of the Vatican Observatory
.
and a doctorate from the University of Padua
in Italy
. He has also a bachelor's degree in philosophy
from University del Salvador in Argentina and a bachelor's degree in theology
from Pontifical Gregorian University
in Rome
. A member of the Society of Jesus
, he was ordained a priest in 1995. He joined the Vatican Observatory
as a researcher in 2000, and was named its director on August 19, 2006 replacing Fr. George Coyne
.
he stated that the possible existence of intelligent extraterrestrials did not contradict church teaching
and ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.
He has speculated that such alien life forms
could even be “free from Original Sin … [remaining] in full friendship with their creator.” Funes' statements have clearly similar points to what the Vatican's Corrado Balducci
also previously has expressed.
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
), an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
Jesuit priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and astronomer
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, is the current director of the Vatican Observatory
Vatican Observatory
The Vatican Observatory is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in Rome, it now has headquarters and laboratory at the summer residence of the Pope in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and an observatory at the Mount Graham International...
.
Biography
He has a master's degree in Astronomy from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and a doctorate from the University of Padua
University of Padua
The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He has also a bachelor's degree in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
from University del Salvador in Argentina and a bachelor's degree in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
from Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. A member of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, he was ordained a priest in 1995. He joined the Vatican Observatory
Vatican Observatory
The Vatican Observatory is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in Rome, it now has headquarters and laboratory at the summer residence of the Pope in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and an observatory at the Mount Graham International...
as a researcher in 2000, and was named its director on August 19, 2006 replacing Fr. George Coyne
George Coyne
George V. Coyne, S.J. is a Jesuit priest, astronomer, and former director of the Vatican Observatory and head of the observatory’s research group which is based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.-Scientific education:...
.
Selected Papers
| Author | Title | Journal | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAPASSET E. and FUNES J.G. | The peculiar behaviour of the photometric variability of V508 Ophiuchi. | Astrophys. Space Sci., 113, 83-87 | 1985 |
| CORSINI E.M., PIZZELLA A., FUNES J.G., VEGA BELTRAN J.C. and BERTOLA F. | The circumnuclear ring of ionized gas in NGC 3593. | Astron. Astrophys., 337, 80-84 | 1998 |
| VEGA BELTRAN J.C., ZEILINGER W.W., AMICO P., SCHULTHEIS M., CORSINI E.M., FUNES J.G., BECKMAN J. and BERTOLA F. | Mixed early and late-type properties in the bar of NGC 6221: Evidence for evolution along the Hubble sequence? | Astron. Astrophys., Suppl. Ser., 131, 105-114 | 1998 |
| BERTOLA F., CAPPELLARI M., FUNES J.G., CORSINI E.M., PIZZELLA A. and VEGA BELTRAN J.C. | Circumnuclear Keplerian disks in galaxies. | Astrophys. J., 509, L93-L96 | 1998 |
| CORSINI E.M., PIZZELLA A., SARZI M., CINZANO P., VEGA BELTRAN J.C., FUNES J.G., BERTOLA F., PERSIC M. and SALUCCI P. | Dark matter in early-type spiral galaxies: the case of NGC 2179 and of NGC 2775. | Astron. Astrophys., 342, 671-686 | 1999 |
| BERTOLA F., CORSINI E.M., VEGA BELTRAN J.C., PIZZELLA A., SARZI M., CAPPELLARI M. and FUNES J.G. | The bulge-disk orthogonal decoupling in galaxies: NGC 4698. | Astrophys. J., 519, L127-L130 | 1999 |
| SARZI M., CORSINI E.M., PIZZELLA A., VEGA BELTRAN J.C., CAPPELLARI M., FUNES J.G. and BERTOLA F. | NGC 4672: A new case of an early-type disk galaxy with an orthogonally decoupled core. | Astron. Astrophys., 360, 439-446 | 2000 |
| FUNES J.G. and CORSINI E.M. | Galaxy disks and disk galaxies. (Conference highlights). | Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., 112, 1510–1511 | 2000 |
| VEGA BELTRAN J.C., PIZZELLA A., CORSINI E.M., FUNES J.G., ZEILINGER W.W., BECKMAN J.E. and BERTOLA F. | Kinematic properties of gas and stars in 20 disc galaxies. | Astron. Astrophys., 374, 394-411 | 2001 |
| VENNIK J., FUNES J.G., RAFANELLI P. and RICHTER G.M. | Structure of the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mkn 955. | Astron. Gesellschaft Abstract Ser., 18, 210-210 | 2001 |
| SARZI M., BERTOLA F., CAPPELLARI M., CORSINI E.M., FUNES J.G., PIZZELLA A. and VEGA BELTRAN J.C. | The orthogonal bulge-disc decoupling in NGC 4698. | Astrophys. Space Sci., 276, 467-473 | 2001 |
| VEGA BELTRAN J.C., ZEILINGER W.W., PIZZELLA A., CORSINI E.M., BERTOLA F., FUNES J.G. and BECKMAN J.E. | Kinematics of gas and stars in 20 disc galaxies. | Astrophys. Space Sci., 276, 1201–1210 | 2001 |
| PIGNATELLI E., VEGA BELTRAN J.C., BECKMAN J.E., CORSINI E.M., PIZZELLA A., SCARLATA C., BERTOLA F., FUNES J.G. and ZEILINGER W.W. | Modeling gas and stellar kinematics in disc galaxies NGC 772, NGC 3898 and NGC 7782. | Astrophys. Space Sci. Suppl., 277, 493-494 | 2001 |
| PIGNATELLI E., CORSINI E.M., VEGA BELTRAN J.C., SCARLATA C., PIZZELLA A., FUNES J.G., ZEILINGER W.W., BECKMAN J.E. and BERTOLA F. | Modelling gaseous and stellar kinematics in the disc galaxies NGC 772, 3898 and 7782. | Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 323, 188-210 | 2001 |
| PIZZELLA A., BERTOLA F., SARZI M., CORSINI E.M., VEGA BELTRAN J.C., CAPPELLARI M. and FUNES J.G. | NGC 4672: a new case of an early-type disk galaxy with an orthogonally decoupled core. | Mem. Soc. Astron. Ital., 72, 797-800 | 2001 |
| FUNES J.G. | Kinematics of the ionized gas in the inner regions of disk galaxies. (Dissertation summary). | Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., 113, 257-257 | 2001 |
| FUNES J.G., CORSINI E.M., CAPPELLARI M., PIZZELLA A., VEGA BELTRAN J.C., SCARLATA C. and BERTOLA F. | Position-velocity diagrams of ionized gas in the inner regions of disk galaxies. | Astron. Astrophys., 388, 50-67 | 2002 |
| FUNES J.G., REJKUBA M., MINNITI D., AKIYAMA S. and KENNICUTT R.C. | Star formation in the disk of NGC 5128. | American Astron. Soc. meeting, 201, #20.23 | 2002 |
| COCCATO L., CORSINI E.M., PIZZELLA A., MORELLI L., FUNES J.G. and BERTOLA F. | Minor-axis velocity gradients in disk galaxies'. | Astron. Astrophys., 416, 507-514 | 2004 |
| LEE J.C., KENNICUTT R.C., FUNES J.G., SAKAI S., TREMONTI C.A. and VAN ZEE L. | 11HUGS: The 11 Mpc H-{alpha} and ultraviolet galaxy survey. | American Astron. Soc. meeting, 205, #60.04 | 2004 |
| KENNICUTT R.C., LEE J.C., AKIYAMA S., FUNES J.G. and SAKAI S. | An H-{alpha} imaging survey of galaxies in the local 11 Mpc volume. | American Astron. Soc. meeting, 205, #60.05 | 2004 |
| KRALL C. and FUNES J.G. | H-alpha and UBR imaging of elliptical galaxies with dust lanes. | American Astron. Soc. meeting, 205, #92.04 | 2004 |
| MINNITI D., REJKUBA M., FUNES J.G. and AKIYAMA S. | Optical counterparts of X-ray point sources observed by Chandra in NGC 5128: 20 new globular cluster X-ray sources. | Astrophys. J., 600, 716-728 | 2004 |
| MINNITI D., REJKUBA M., FUNES J.G. and KENNICUTT R.C.Jr | The most exciting massive binary cluster in NGC 5128: clues to the formation of globular clusters. | Astrophys. J., 612, 215-221 | 2004 |
| VILLEGAS D., MINNITI D. and FUNES J.G. | HST photometry of the binary globular cluster Sersic 13N-S in NGC 5128. | Astron. Astrophys., 442, 437-442 | 2005 |
| GUTIERREZ C.M., ALONSO M.S., FUNES J.G. and RIBEIRO M.B. | Star formation in satellite galaxies. | Astron. J., 132, 596-607 | 2006 |
| LEE J.C., KENNICUTT R.C., FUNES J.G., SAKAI S. and AKIYAMA S. | The star formation demographics of galaxies in the Local Volume. | Astrophys. J., 671, L113-L116 | 2007 |
Extraterrestrials
In an interview in May 2008he stated that the possible existence of intelligent extraterrestrials did not contradict church teaching
and ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.
He has speculated that such alien life forms
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
could even be “free from Original Sin … [remaining] in full friendship with their creator.” Funes' statements have clearly similar points to what the Vatican's Corrado Balducci
Corrado Balducci
Monsignor Corrado Balducci, , was a Roman Catholic theologian of the Vatican Curia, a close friend of the pope, long time exorcist for the Archdiocese of Rome, and a Prelate of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith...
also previously has expressed.