Catholics and Evolution

[Caissie]

I am just wondering what percentage of Catholics believe in Evolution. Also, does anyone have an official answer from the Catholic church on their stance?

 

[Joachim]

I am just wondering what percentage of Catholics believe in Evolution. Also, does anyone have an official answer from the Catholic church on their stance?

Church actually has no formal position per se, but it has said that saying that evolution happened does not mean that God didn't guide the process and in fact a fair amount of Catholic apologetical work has been dedicated to the idea of the uncaused cause, that there has to be an uncaused cause and that it is this uncaused cause that is God, who manifested himself through Jesus, etc.

 

[Drekkan85]

It's been the unofficial policy (not ex cathedra) of both of the current and previous Pope's that evolution by natural selection (as first proposed by Darwin) is accurate. They don't support ID, and certainly not literal 7-day creationism. Their one disagreement is that, at the moment homo sapiens sapiens become a species, God recognized creatures in his own image and breathed the spark of life into them - thus creating their souls.

I do believe there's a more detailed post on the issue over in the creationism/evolution and/or physical sciences fora.

 

[champuru]

There is no official position of the Catholic church on evolution, though it is generally accepted by most. Here is an interesting read on the subject by (then) Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict I also wrote it out below incase that hyperlink does not work

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...1bDqCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result

 

[shernren]

The most relevant doctrinal document is probably Humani generis (1950) by Pope Pius XII; nothing else seems to have been said with the same weight of authority within the Catholic Church since then.

Having said that, there are plenty of individual organizations made out of Catholic Christians which are creationist. Their policy however cannot be equated with any official policy of the Catholic Church as a whole.

 

[MrPolo]

It's been the unofficial policy (not ex cathedra) of both of the current and previous Pope's that evolution by natural selection (as first proposed by Darwin) is accurate.

It's not that the Church has called it "accurate" but that Darwinianist evolution doesn't necessarily conflict with Catholic teaching (see my next post). It may or may not prove accurate by further studies of science, a realm outside the Church's purview.

 

[MrPolo]

The most relevant doctrinal document is probably Humani generis (1950) by Pope Pius XII; nothing else seems to have been said with the same weight of authority within the Catholic Church since then.

True, not with that authority, although Pope John Paul II did address this in his: "Truth Cannot Contradict Truth" from 1996. For the Church does not define matters outside the bounds of faith or morals, and thus cannot make definitions regarding the science of evolution. His comments on evolution were conditional. The Church's arena relates to the soul:

Taking into account the state of scientific research at the time as well as of the requirements of theology, the encyclical Humani Generis considered the doctrine of "evolutionism" a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and in-depth study equal to that of the opposing hypothesis. Pius XII added two methodological conditions: that this opinion should not be adopted as though it were a certain, proven doctrine and as though one could totally prescind from revelation with regard to the questions it raises. He also spelled out the condition on which this opinion would be compatible with the Christian faith, a point to which I will return.

.....

The Church's magisterium is directly concerned with the question of evolution, for it involves the conception of man: Revelation teaches us that he was created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gn 1:27-29). The conciliar constitution Gaudium et Spes has magnificently explained this doctrine, which is pivotal to Christian thought. It recalled that man is "the only creature on earth that God has wanted for its own sake" (No. 24). In other terms, the human individual cannot be subordinated as a pure means or a pure instrument, either to the species or to society; he has value per se. He is a person. With his intellect and his will, he is capable of forming a relationship of communion, solidarity and self-giving with his peers. St. Thomas observes that man's likeness to God resides especially in his speculative intellect, for his relationship with the object of his knowledge resembles God's relationship with what he has created (Summa Theologica I-II:3:5, ad 1). But even more, man is called to enter into a relationship of knowledge and love with God himself, a relationship which will find its complete fulfillment beyond time, in eternity. All the depth and grandeur of this vocation are revealed to us in the mystery of the risen Christ (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22). It is by virtue of his spiritual soul that the whole person possesses such a dignity even in his body. Pius XII stressed this essential point: If the human body take its origin from pre-existent living matter, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God ("animas enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides nos retinere iubei"; "Humani Generis," 36). Consequently, theories of evolution which, in accordance with the philosophies inspiring them, consider the spirit as emerging from the forces of living matter or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. Nor are they able to ground the dignity of the person.​

 

[The Barbarian]

"Since it has been demonstrated that all living organisms on earth are genetically related, it is virtually certain that all living organisms have descended from this first organism. Converging evidence from many studies in the physical and biological sciences furnishes mounting support for some theory of evolution to account for the development and diversification of life on earth, while controversy continues over the pace and mechanisms of evolution. While the story of human origins is complex and subject to revision, physical anthropology and molecular biology combine to make a convincing case for the origin of the human species in Africa about 150,000 years ago in a humanoid population of common genetic lineage. However it is to be explained, the decisive factor in human origins was a continually increasing brain size, culminating in that of homo sapiens. With the development of the human brain, the nature and rate of evolution were permanently altered: with the introduction of the uniquely human factors of consciousness, intentionality, freedom and creativity, biological evolution was recast as social and cultural evolution."
Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, Chairman,
COMMUNION AND STEWARDSHIP:
Human Persons Created in the Image of Godhttp://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c..._20040723_communion-stewardship_en.html#_edn1

 

[Sophophile]

I am just wondering what percentage of Catholics believe in Evolution. Also, does anyone have an official answer from the Catholic church on their stance?

Pope Pius XII:

"One Galileo in two thousand years is enough."

 

[Tomm]

Many Catholics do not believe in evolution. I personally do not.

Tom
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[Drekkan85]

Many Catholics do not believe in evolution. I personally do not.
http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=7349330

So how do you handle various recent Pope's saying you're wrong?

 

[The Barbarian]

The Pope didn't say evolution was true as an ex cathedra statement. Since it is not officially a doctrine of the Church, it's not necessary for Catholics to believe it. We are merely prohibited from saying it's contrary to Christian belief, because that would be making up our own doctrines. Personal interpretations of Scripture are not allowed in the Catholic Church.

 

[Tomm]

The Pope didn't say evolution was true as an ex cathedra statement. Since it is not officially a doctrine of the Church, it's not necessary for Catholics to believe it. We are merely prohibited from saying it's contrary to Christian belief, because that would be making up our own doctrines. Personal interpretations of Scripture are not allowed in the Catholic Church.

I agree.
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