The Pope and Evolution

Message from the Pope, 1996

Magisterium Is Concerned with Question of Evolution
For It Involves Conception of Man

Pope John Paul II

Message to Pontifical Academy of Sciences*
October 22, 1996

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).

   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, fresh knowledge has led to the
   recognition that evolution is more than a hypothesis. 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 ("animal enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides nos retinere inhet";
   Encyclical Humani generic, 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 into 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.