| − | In early March of 2009, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's ''On the Origin of Species'', a five-day conference titled "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories" was held at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The symposium censored presentation of [[intelligent design]] and instead invited evolutionists who are hostile to it. Cardinal William Levada, who heads the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that it is "absurd" for evolution to try to eliminate the possibility of God's existence; he added his personal, unauthorized view that those who "have a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible which they want to see taught to their children in the schools alongside evolution or instead of it." Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, claimed that there is "no ''a priori'' incompatibility between evolution and the message of the Bible". <ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5859797.ece</ref> No intelligent design supporter was allowed to rebut these comments. | + | In early March of 2009, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's ''On the Origin of Species'', a five-day conference titled "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories" was held at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The symposium censored presentation of [[intelligent design]] and instead invited evolutionists who are hostile to it. Cardinal William Levada, who heads the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that it is "absurd" for evolution to try to eliminate the possibility of God's existence; he added his personal, unauthorized view that those who "have a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible which they want to see taught to their children in the schools alongside evolution or instead of it." Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, claimed that there is "no ''a priori'' incompatibility between evolution and the message of the Bible".<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5859797.ece</ref> No intelligent design researcher or advocate was allowed to rebut these comments. |