Vatican conference seeks clarity on Darwin's theory
September 17, 2008
‘Creationism’ – presumably seven-day creationism – ‘from a strictly theological view makes sense, but when it is used in scientific fields it becomes useless,’ says Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the new President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, at a press conference about an upcoming congress on the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s Origin of the Species. Despite the inaccurate headline (‘The Catholic Church is to debate God and evolution’), The Times offers a straightforward account of the press conference, in which Archbishop Ravasi noted that Darwin’s work was never placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. Archbishop Ravasi referred to texts by Popes Pius XII and John Paul II on evolution (to which links are provided below); he suggested that it is time to stop thinking of evolution as the subject of a conflict or contest between Church and science, and recognize different ways to view the topic.
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Further information:
- Vatican evolution congress to exclude creationism, intelligent design (CNS)
- Upcoming conference: Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories. A Critical Appraisal 150 years after 'The Origin of Species' (VIS)
- Evolution and science (Vatican Radio)
- Vatican sets conference on evolution (Chronicle of Higher Education)
- The Catholic Church is to debate God and evolution (The Times)
- Vatican, ally defend legitimacy of evolution (AP)
- Pope Pius XII, encyclical letter Humani Generis (see nos. 5-6, 37-38)
- Pope John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
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