Vatican Paper Hits 'Intelligent Design'

[deadparrot]

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican newspaper has published an article saying "intelligent design" is not science and that teaching it alongside evolutionary theory in school classrooms only creates confusion.

The article in Tuesday's editions of L'Osservatore Romano was the latest in a series of interventions by Vatican officials — including the pope — on the issue that has dominated headlines in the United States.

The author, Fiorenzo Facchini, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Bologna, laid out the scientific rationale for Darwin's theory of evolution, saying that in the scientific world, biological evolution "represents the interpretative key of the history of life on Earth."

He lamented that certain American "creationists" had brought the debate back to the "dogmatic" 1800s, and said their arguments weren't science but ideology.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/vatican_evolution

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. WHAT? they support science?

I can't wait to see what Pat Robertson has to say. "The Pope has made a pact with Satan. He insults gawd by ignoring him and his 6 day wonder. thie Pope will fry in hell."

[Posteritatis]

2. The Vatican supporting evolution is hardly news

They've been doing that since the sixties, and much more emphatically since the nineties.

[demosincebirth]

3. I agree, they've been doing that for years.

Hardly news, but thanks anyway.

[trotsky]

4. They've been around long enough to learn their lessons.

If you fight science, you'll always lose in the end. The Catholic Church realizes this more than many other Christian denominations.

[tjwmason]

6. Pat Robertson probably thinks that already.

Remember that the politicisation of Evangelicalism started when Kennedy was campaigning, its first target was Catholicism - gays, left-wingers &c. came along later.

[Inland]

8. It's a symptom with the broad brush toward christians

that one would be suprised to know Robertson thinks the Pope will go to hell. There's a reason why the protestant sects separated and called the Pope the Whore of Babylon. You could find anti papal statements on the Bob Jones U website as Bush made it a point to give speeches there in 2000.

Same with evolution. The catholics have NEVER been against evolution. It's taught in their schools, and ID, as far as I know, is not an option when test taking time comes.

[CatholicEdHead]

5. That is the standard stance, it is nothing new

Intelligent Design is usually referred to in the pre-Big Bang time. After that all current valid scientific theories are accepted.

Of course there is a nutty Cardnial here and there what will take the ID stance and denouce evolution like we usually hear about.

[Inland]

9. Is there any push to allow ID in catholic schools?

Does the subject even come up?

[CatholicEdHead]

10. A few bring it up here and there but there is no large movement

since it has not come from far enough up the chain of command.

[grumpy old fart]

7. As if the fundies care what the Pope thinks. Different flavor loonies....

Bunch of Mary worshipers and idolaters, those Catholics! Now back to the real questions about what time today the rapture is coming etc.....