I would like to thank all of you who responded with creative ideas about
what one could do to make science exhibits more engaging to the public.
A long-term effort (of almost geologic time scale proportions) will be
required to keep setting the record straight and to keep informing
people what evolution is all about.

 

With regard to the position of the Vatican, here is the full text of the
Vatican position on this topic.  It is dated 22 October 1996.  It
remains the official Vatican position until further notice.  

 

Thanks

 

Dirk Van Tuerenhout

 

"          MESSAGE TO PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

 Magisterium is concerned with question of evolution, for it involves
conception of man

 

 

"Man is called to enter into a relationship of knowledge and love with
God himself, a relationship which will find its complete fulfilment
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, n. 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 takes its origin from pre-existent
living matter, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God", the
Holy Father said in a Message to the members of the Pontifical Academy
of Sciences who had gathered in the Vatican for their plenary assembly.
The focus of the Pope's reflections was the relationship between
Revelation and theories of evolution. Here is a translation of his
Message, which was written in French and dated 22 October.

 

To the Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences taking part in the
Plenary Assembly

With great pleasure I address cordial greetings to you, Mr President,
and to all of you who constitute the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, on
the occasion of your plenary assembly. I offer my best wishes in
particular to the new academicians, who have come to take part  in your
work for the first time. I would also like to remember the academicians
who died during the past year, whom I commend to the Lord of life.

1. In celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Academy's refoundation, I
would like to recall the intentions of my predecessor Pius XI, who
wished to surround himself with a select group of scholars, relying on
them to inform the Holy See in complete freedom about developments in
scientific research, and thereby to assist him in his reflections.

He asked those whom he called the Church's Senatus scientificus to serve
the truth. I again extend this same invitation to you today, certain
that we will all be able to profit from the fruitfulness of a trustful
dialogue between the Church and science (cf. Address to the Academy of
Sciences, n. 1, 28 October 1986; L'Osservatore Romano English edition,
24 November 1986, p. 22).

 

Science at the dawn of  the third millennium

 

2. I am pleased with the first theme you have chosen, that of the
origins of life and evolution, an essential subject which deeply
interests the Church, since Revelation, for its part, contains teaching
concerning the nature and origins of man. How do the conclusions reached
by the various scientific disciplines coincide with those contained in
the message of Revelation? And if, at first sight, there are apparent
contradictions, in what direction do we look for their solution? We
know, in fact, that truth cannot contradict truth (cf. Leo XIII,
Encyclical Providentissimus Deus). Moreover, to shed greater light on
historical truth, your research on the Church's relations with science
between the 16th and 18th centuries is of great importance.

During this plenary session, you are undertaking a "reflection on
science at the dawn of the third millennium", starting with the
identification of the principal problems created by the sciences and
which affect humanity's future. With this step you point the way to
solutions which will be beneficial to the whole human community. In the
domain of inanimate and animate nature, the evolution of science and its
applications gives rise to new questions. The better the Church's
knowledge is of their essential aspects, the more she will understand
their impact. Consequently, in accordance with her specific mission she
will be able to offer criteria for discerning the moral conduct required
of all human beings in view of their integral salvation.

3. Before offering you several reflections that more specifically
concern the subject of the origin of life and its evolution, I would
like to remind you  that the Magisterium of the Church has already made
pronouncements on  these matters within the framework of her own
competence. I will cite here two interventions.

In his Encyclical Humani generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII had
already stated that there was no opposition between evolution and the
doctrine of the faith about man and his vocation, on condition that one
did not lose sight of several indisputable points (cf. AAS 42 [1950],
pp. 575-576). [Emphasis added.]

For my part, when I received those taking part in your Academy's plenary
assembly on 31 October 1992, I had the opportunity, with regard to
Galileo, to draw attention to the need of a rigorous hermeneutic for the
correct interpretation of the inspired word. It is necessary to
determine the proper sense of Scripture, while avoiding any unwarranted
interpretations that make it say what it does not intend to say. In
order to delineate the field of their own study, the exegete and the
theologian must keep informed about the results achieved by the natural
sciences (cf. AAS 85 [1993], pp. 764-772; Address to the Pontifical
Biblical Commission, 23 April 1993, announcing the document on The
Interpretation of the Bible in the Church: AAS 86 [1994] pp. 232-243).

 

Evolution and the  Church's Magisterium

 

4. 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.

Today, almost half a century after the publication of the Encyclical,
new knowledge has led to the recognition of more than one hypothesis in
the theory of evolution. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has
been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of
discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither
sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted
independently is in itself a significant argument in favour of this
theory.

What is the significance of such a theory? To address this question is
to enter the field of epistemology. A theory is a metascientific
elaboration, distinct from the results of observation but consistent
with them. By means of it a series of independent data and facts can be
related and interpreted in a unified explanation. A theory's validity
depends on whether or not it can be verified; it is constantly tested
against the facts; wherever it can no longer explain the latter, it
shows its limitations and unsuitability. It must then be rethought.

Furthermore, while the formulation of a theory like that of evolution
complies with the need for consistency with the observed data, it
borrows certain notions from natural philosophy.

And, to tell the truth, rather than the theory of evolution, we should
speak of several theories of evolution. On the one hand, this plurality
has to do with the different explanations advanced for the mechanism of
evolution, and on the other, with the various philosophies on which it
is based. Hence the existence of materialist, reductionist and
spiritualist interpretations. What is to be decided here is the true
role of philosophy and, beyond it, of theology.

5. 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"
(n. 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, q. 3,  a.
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 fulfilment 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, n. 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 takes 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
iubet"; Encyclical Humani generis, AAS 42 [1950], p. 575).

Consequently, theories of evolution which, in accordance with the
philosophies inspiring them, consider the mind 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.

6. With man, then, we find ourselves in the presence of an ontological
difference, an ontological leap, one could say. However, does not the
posing of such ontological discontinuity run counter to that physical
continuity which seems to be the main thread of research into evolution
in the field of physics and chemistry? Consideration of the method used
in the various branches of knowledge makes it possible to reconcile two
points of view which would seem irreconcilable. The sciences of
observation describe and measure the multiple manifestations of life
with increasing precision and correlate them with the time line. The
moment of transition to the spiritual cannot be the object of this kind
of observation, which nevertheless can discover at the experimental
level a series of very valuable signs indicating what is specific to the
human being. But the experience of metaphysical knowledge, of
self-awareness and self-reflection, of moral conscience, freedom, or
again, of aesthetic and religious experience, falls within the
competence of philosophical analysis and reflection, while theology
brings out its ultimate meaning according to the Creator's plans.

 

We are called to  enter eternal life

 

7. In conclusion, I would like to call to mind a Gospel truth which can
shed a higher light on the horizon of your research into the origins and
unfolding of living matter. The Bible in fact bears an extraordinary
message of life. It gives us a wise vision of life inasmuch as it
describes the loftiest forms of existence. This vision guided me in the
Encyclical which I dedicated to respect for human life, and which I
called precisely Evangelium vitae. 

 

It is significant that in St John's Gospel life refers to the divine
light which Christ communicates to us. We are called to enter into
eternal life, that is to say, into the eternity of divine beatitude.

To warn us against the serious temptations threatening us, our Lord
quotes the great saying of Deuteronomy: "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Dt 8:3;
cf. Mt 4:4).

Even more, "life" is one of the most beautiful titles which the Bible
attributes  to God. He is the living God.

I cordially invoke an abundance of divine blessings upon you and upon
all who are close to you.

From the Vatican, 22 October 1996.

 

 


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