Evolution and the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church holds no official position on the theory of creation or evolution, leaving the specifics of either theistic evolution or literal creationism to the individual within certain parameters established by the Church. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, any believer may accept either literal or special creation within the period of an actual six-day, twenty-four-hour period, or they may accept the belief that the earth evolved over time under the guidance of God. Catholicism holds that God initiated and continued the process of his creation, that Adam and Eve were real people,^[1]^[2] and that all humans, whether specially created or evolved, have and have always had specially created souls for each individual.^[3]^[4]

Early contributions to biology were made by Catholic scientists such as the Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel. Since the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, the attitude of the Catholic Church on the theory of evolution has slowly been refined. For nearly a century, the papacy offered no authoritative pronouncement on Darwin's theories. In the 1950 encyclical Humani generis, Pope Pius XII confirmed that there is no intrinsic conflict between Christianity and the theory of evolution, provided that Christians believe that God created all things and that the individual soul is a direct creation by God and not the product of purely material forces.^[5] Today^[update], the Church supports theistic evolution, also known as evolutionary creation.^[6]

Catholic schools teach evolution as part of their science curriculum. They teach the fact that evolution occurs and that modern evolutionary synthesis is how evolution proceeds.

^ "What do Catholics believe about Adam and Eve? | Commonweal Magazine". www.commonwealmagazine.org. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
^ "Adam and Eve Were Real People". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
^ Richard P. McBrien (1995). The HarperCollins Encyclopædia of Catholicism. HarperCollins. p. 771. ISBN 9780006279310. Retrieved 2007-10-18. From this most primitive form of life, the divinely-guided process of evolution by natural selection brought about higher life forms.
^ Cite error: The named reference communion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Farrell, John (August 27, 2010). "Catholics and the Evolving Cosmos". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
^ "Evolutionary Creation" (PDF). University of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2007-10-18. Evolutionary creation best describes the official position of the Roman Catholic Church,^{[citation needed]} though it is often referred to in this tradition as 'theistic evolution.'

[1] "What do Catholics believe about Adam and Eve? | Commonweal Magazine". www.commonwealmagazine.org. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2022-12-29.

[2] "Adam and Eve Were Real People". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2022-12-29.

[Richard_P._McBrien-3] Richard P. McBrien (1995). The HarperCollins Encyclopædia of Catholicism. HarperCollins. p. 771. ISBN 9780006279310. Retrieved 2007-10-18. From this most primitive form of life, the divinely-guided process of evolution by natural selection brought about higher life forms.

[communion-4] Cite error: The named reference communion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[5] Farrell, John (August 27, 2010). "Catholics and the Evolving Cosmos". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 11, 2012.

[Alberta-6] "Evolutionary Creation" (PDF). University of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2007-10-18. Evolutionary creation best describes the official position of the Roman Catholic Church,^{[citation needed]} though it is often referred to in this tradition as 'theistic evolution.'

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