A Christian Eye on Politics
It all started in 1996. On the 23rd of October of that year, while speaking to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences plenary session at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II effectively declared the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin to be fact, tacitly acknowledging that man evolved from the apes, and reducing the biblical account of Genesis to that of mere fable. Incredulous gasps of amazement could be heard all around the world, from both Catholics and non-Catholics.
Here is the beginning of that news report of 1996,
VATICAN CITY, OCT 23, 1996 (VIS) - In a Message made public today to the members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, meeting this week in the Vatican in plenary session, the Holy Father recalled that Pope Pius XI, who restored this academy in 1936, called this group of scholars "the Church's 'scientific senate'" and asked them "to serve the truth."
The Pope expressed delight on the plenary's theme on the origin of life and evolution, "a basic theme which greatly interests the Church, as Revelation contains, for its part, teachings concerning the nature and origins of man." If the scientifically-reached conclusions and those contained in Revelation on the origin of life seem to counter each other, he said, "in what direction should we seek their solution? We know in effect that truth cannot contradict truth."
John Paul II, noting the academy's "reflection on science at the dawn of the third millennium," observed that "in the domain of inanimate and animate nature, the evolution of science and its applications make new questions arise. The Church can grasp their scope all the better as she knows their basic aspects."
What the Pope had done was to elevate Darwinian evolutionary theory to that of undeniable scientific fact, or truth. The conclusion is then adopted that since evolution is indeed the truth, the Catholic Church's interpretation of the biblical account of Genesis cannot contradict this now proven and accepted fact of evolution, and so church teachings must consequently be re-evaluated and amended. This, in a nutshell, is the amazing new Catholic approach.
But now, in 2008, the Roman Catholic Church has gone further, even announcing its intention to celebrate the birth of Charles Darwin and to organise a conference in the naturalist's honour. This stance has shocked and stunned millions of Catholics around the world, many of whom had been much strengthened by moves in the United States to enforce the teaching of Creationism in schools, alongside the teaching of evolution. The feeling had been growing that, given time, evolution would be increasingly forced to defend its precarious position in the face of the new scientific progress in the area of 'Irreducible Complexity.' Many Catholics were beginning to grow impatient that the Catholic Church was so slow to issue statements of support for 'Irreducible Complexity' and to acknowledge that the entire impetus of the new approach was due to the outstanding research of micro-biologist Michael Behe, himself a Roman Catholic. But just as many thought that Roman Catholicism should soon resume earlier attacks on Darwinism, in the face of the new exciting research, Catholic leaders have apparently decided to capitulate to the philosophical Naturalism of 'scientism.'
A Roman Catholic e-mailed this comment to us,
"I am ashamed by my own Church although I have stood by Catholicism through thick and thin. It is so worrying that our own Pontifical Academy of Sciences can be so out of touch with the very latest thinking. In fact, I fear that some of these 'academy dinosaurs' may not even have heard of Michael Behe, or of 'Irreducible Complexity' and may not have read any of all the books from so many scientific writers during the last ten years which now seriously challenge Darwinism. Just when many of us thought the time was starting to be about right for the major Christian denomination to really go on the attack against Darwinism, we are waving a white flag of surrender...I just cannot believe it. What a wonderful opportunity for leadership we have just thrown away."
The Christian Hawk too is shocked by these new pro-evolution sensibilities from the Vatican. The conclusion that the Vatican's own 'council of science' is most seriously out of touch can hardly be avoided.
The Christian Hawk, May, 2008.