Changes

'''Catholic views on creationism''' have undergone change over time.  [[Roman Catholicism]], along with most branches of [[Christianity]], generally accepted a literal interpretation of [[creationism|creation]] as presented in the [[book of Genesis]] in the [[Bible]] throughout most of its history.

'''Catholic views on creationism''' have undergone change over time.  [[Roman Catholicism]], along with most branches of [[Christianity]], generally accepted a literal interpretation of [[creationism|creation]] as presented in the [[book of Genesis]] in the [[Bible]] throughout most of its history. Currently, the Catholic church has taken no official position on evolution.

==Evolution==

==Evolution==

The theory of evolution, as it is commonly taught today, denies the existence of one Adam and Eve and thus undermines the concept of [[original sin]] that made necessary the [[Passion of Christ]].

The theory of evolution, as it is commonly taught today, denies the existence of one Adam and Eve and thus undermines the concept of [[original sin]] that made necessary the [[Passion of Christ]].

In 1996, Pope [[John Paul II]], speaking in French rather than his native language, made a statement about evolution that used the ambiguous French term "une", which can mean "one" or "a".  The English translation of this phrase in the Vatican newspaper was that the Pope said that the [[theory of evolution]] "is more than one hypothesis."<ref>http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Inside/01-97/creat2.html</ref>   [[Evolutionists]] insisted that the paper had erred and that the phrase should have been translated as saying that the [[theory of evolution]] is "more than a hypothesis," thereby giving the theory slightly more credibility.  But despite the intense pressure by [[evolutionists]] against the paper, it did not print their alternative translation.

On October 23rd 1996, Pope [[John Paul II]] made a speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and said "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." <ref>http://www.cin.org/jp2evolu.html</ref>  

 

In an interview that was published in 1997, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) stated:

In an interview that was published in 1997, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) stated: