MALAGA, Spain — Cristiano Ronaldo's return to action after nearly two months of injury woes comes at the perfect time for Real Madrid, who host arch-rivals Barcelona in one of most anticipated matches of the season Sunday.
But a Malaga sorcerer, known only as Pepe, says the Portuguese winger's comeback could be short-lived.
Malaga-born Pepe said he was introduced into the occult by a Mexican sorcerer over three decades ago. He now claims he was paid 30,000 euros (45,000 dollars) by a "famous" former girlfriend of Ronaldo to put an injury curse on the player.
"The best is yet to come," the 57-year-old told AFP at his office in the Mediterranean port which is packed with burning candles and incense as well as statues depicting the devil.
"I have given myself four months to end his career and I have said everywhere that once Cristiano started playing again he would play just one to three matches before being injured again."
Pepe, who says he has been paid in the past to put curses on other footballers like England's David Beckham and Argentina's Lionel Messi, would not reveal the identity of his client, saying only that he was contacted by her representatives who got his telephone number from another Real player.
Several media outlets have reported that US heiress Paris Hilton is behind the voodoo curse on the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year.
The two were spotted together in Los Angeles in June just before the 24-year-old completed his 94-million-euro move to Real from Manchester United that made him the most expensive player in the world.
Ronaldo made his return for Real on Wednesday when he came on as a second-half substitute during the 1-0 Champions League win over FC Zurich, later saying he felt fine.
It was his first time playing for Real since he injured his right ankle during the club's 3-0 win at home over Marseille on September 30 after being tackled by the French side's Senegalese defender Souleymane Diawara.
In that match Ronaldo contributed two of the goals. He aggravated the injury during Portugal's 3-0 victory over Hungary on October 10 when he limped off the pitch after just 27 minutes.
Just four days before Real's match against Marseille, Pepe sent a fax to Real's offices in the Spanish capital warning that a spell had been placed on the player.
Pure coincidence? Pepe, who likes to display the scars on his stomach which he says he got in voodoo rituals, is convinced that it was due to his spell.
His next weapon against Ronaldo is almost ready -- a black voodoo doll representing the player which is dressed in a white jersey and shorts which resemble Real's strip.
He said he is just waiting for Ronaldo to regain his form before he starts to riddle the doll with needles and nails.
His next target? "Ronaldo's right knee," he said.
The player has not commented in public about the spell which Pepe says he has cast on him although his mother, Dolores Aveiro, has hired a Portuguese sorcerer to use "white" magic against Pepe's "black" magic.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ifcg1tCOVzKD6ZyFiUwq3yxPC7Ig
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama ordered a review of all intelligence related to Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and whether the information was properly shared and acted upon within government agencies.
VATICAN CITY — E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.
"The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory.
Funes, a Jesuit priest, presented the results Tuesday of a five-day conference that gathered astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology — the study of the origin of life and its existence elsewhere in the cosmos.
Funes said the possibility of alien life raises "many philosophical and theological implications" but added that the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue.
Chris Impey, an astronomy professor at the University of Arizona, said it was appropriate that the Vatican would host such a meeting.
"Both science and religion posit life as a special outcome of a vast and mostly inhospitable universe," he told a news conference Tuesday. "There is a rich middle ground for dialogue between the practitioners of astrobiology and those who seek to understand the meaning of our existence in a biological universe."
Thirty scientists, including non-Catholics, from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Chile attended the conference, called to explore among other issues "whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds."
Funes set the stage for the conference a year ago when he discussed the possibility of alien life in an interview given prominence in the Vatican's daily newspaper.
The Church of Rome's views have shifted radically through the centuries since Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other ideas, that other worlds could be inhabited.
Scientists have discovered hundreds of planets outside our solar system — including 32 new ones announced recently by the European Space Agency. Impey said the discovery of alien life may be only a few years away.
"If biology is not unique to the Earth, or life elsewhere differs bio-chemically from our version, or we ever make contact with an intelligent species in the vastness of space, the implications for our self-image will be profound," he said.
This is not the first time the Vatican has explored the issue of extraterrestrials: In 2005, its observatory brought together top researchers in the field for similar discussions.
In the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God.
"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said in that interview.
"Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God's creative freedom."
Funes maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would also be considered "part of creation."
The Roman Catholic Church's relationship with science has come a long way since Galileo was tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant his finding that the Earth revolves around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.
Today top clergy, including Funes, openly endorse scientific ideas like the Big Bang theory as a reasonable explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.
Earlier this year, the Vatican also sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."
The event snubbed proponents of alternative theories, like creationism and intelligent design, which see a higher being rather than the undirected process of natural selection behind the evolution of species.
Still, there are divisions on the issues within the Catholic Church and within other religions, with some favoring creationism or intelligent design that could make it difficult to accept the concept of alien life.
Working with scientists to explore fundamental questions that are of interest to religion is in line with the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made strengthening the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.
Recent popes have been working to overcome the accusation that the church was hostile to science — a reputation grounded in the Galileo affair.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared the ruling against the astronomer was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."
The Vatican Museums opened an exhibit last month marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first celestial observations.
Tommaso Maccacaro, president of Italy's national institute of astrophysics, said at the exhibit's Oct. 13 opening that astronomy has had a major impact on the way we perceive ourselves.
"It was astronomical observations that let us understand that Earth (and man) don't have a privileged position or role in the universe," he said. "I ask myself what tools will we use in the next 400 years, and I ask what revolutions of understanding they'll bring about, like resolving the mystery of our apparent cosmic solitude."
The Vatican Observatory has also been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.
The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has his summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.
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