Skip to main contentAccessibility feedback
Dear catholic.com visitors: This website from Catholic Answers, with all its many resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. A fully independent, lay-run, 501(c)(3) ministry that receives no funding from the institutional Church, we rely entirely on the generosity of everyday people like you to keep this website going with trustworthy, fresh, and relevant content. If everyone visiting this month gave just $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.
Dear catholic.com visitors: This Catholic Answers website, with all its free resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. We receive no funding from the institutional Church and rely entirely on your generosity to sustain this website with trustworthy, accessible content. If every visitor this month donated $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.

If Earth is the only inhabited planet, why is the universe so big?

Question:

If Earth is the only inhabited planet, why is the universe so big?

Answer:

We don’t know whether Earth is the only inhabited planet. It is possible that there is life elsewhere in the universe. Whether such life-forms have spiritual, rational souls subject to the need for salvation would be an entirely different question that the Church then would have to ponder.

Assuming that Earth is the only inhabited planet, one can speculate about why God chose to create a massive universe and populate only a single small planet. Perhaps the difference in size between the universe and our own planet is a symbol of the difference between God and his creation, between the infinite and the finite.

Did you like this content? Please help keep us ad-free

More from Catholic.com

Enjoying this content?  Please support our mission!Donate