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POPE ACCEPTS THEORY OF EVOLUTION

Copyright © 1996 Nando.net
Copyright © 1996 Reuter Information Service

VATICAN CITY (Oct 24, 1996 09:31 a.m. EDT) - Pope John Paul has lent his support
to the theory of evolution, proclaiming it compatible with Christian faith in a
step welcomed by scientists but likely to raise howls from the religious right.
The Pope's recognition that evolution is "more than just a theory"
came in a
written message he sent on Wednesday to a meeting of the Pontifical Academy of
Sciences, a body of experts that advises the Roman Catholic Church on scientific
issues.
It broke new ground by acknowledging that the theory of the physical evolution
of man and other species through natural selection and hereditary adaptation
appeared to be valid.
Though the Pope made clear he regarded the human soul as of immediate divine
creation, and so not subject to the process, his remarks brought banner
headlines in the Italian press.
"Pope says we may descend from monkeys," the conservative newspaper Il
Giornale
said on its front page. La Repubblica said the Pope had "made peace with
Darwin."
The theory of evolution, most notably expounded by 19th century English
naturalist Charles Darwin, had until now been viewed by the Catholic Church as
serious and worthy of discussion but still an open question.
"It is indeed remarkable that this theory has progressively taken root in
the
minds of researchers following a series of discoveries made in different spheres
of knowledge," the Pope said.
"The convergence, neither sought nor provoked, of results of studies
undertaken
independently from each other constitutes in itself a significant argument in
favour of this theory."
The theories of Darwin and other evolutionists about man's origins were for long
anathema to theologians, who saw a conflict with the biblical account of
creation in the Book of Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden.
Most theologians no longer believe that the doctrine that God created the world
and made man in his own image and the theory of evolution stand in each other's
way.
Fundamentalist Christians who take a literal approach to Genesis, known as
"creationists," have however recently reopened the controversy,
especially in
the southern United States.
In Tennessee, where teacher John Scopes was famously fined $100 by a court in
1925 for teaching evolution in his classroom in what became known as the Monkey
Trial, a bill that would have banned teaching evolution as fact was only
narrowly voted down in the state legislature earlier this year.
The Vatican's first substantive response to the theories of evolution was
contained in an encyclical, Humani Generis, written in 1950 by the late Pope
Pius XII.
It cited no objection to discussing evolution while cautioning that the theory
played into the hands of communists eager to cut God out of the equation.
Pope John Paul has previously endorsed the 1950 document. He said on Wednesday
that its essential point was that "if the human body has its origin in
living
material which pre-exists it, the spiritual soul is immediately created by
God."
But he also said: "Today, nearly half a century after appearance of the
encyclical, fresh knowledge leads to recognition of the theory of evolution as
more than just a hypothesis."
The Pope's acknowledgement was welcomed as a significant advance by scientists,
even though some said it had come late.
"It will allow many Catholic scientists, who have been engaged for some
time in
research on human evolution, to continue their work without any censure or
difficulty," said Francesco Barone, a leading Italian scientific
philosopher.