Science fiction and the Jesuits …

… Why Are There So Many Catholics in Science Fiction? - The Atlantic. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

This past August, American author Mary Doria Russell announced that Random House is planning a 20th anniversary edition of The Sparrow, the 1996 book that won her the Arthur C. Clarke Award. The plot centers on a certain holy order that decides to send a unilateral mission to an alien world. “The United Nations took years to come to a decision,” the book’s prologue explains, “that the Society of Jesus reached in ten days.”