No Vatican apology for Darwin
The Vatican has denied it ever condemned "biological change over time," but insists it will not be apologizing to Darwin.
Catholic Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi said, “Evolutionary theory is not incompatible a priori with the teaching of the Catholic Church, with the message of the Bible and theology, and in actual fact it was never condemned.” (Catholic News Agency.)
Last week it was reported that the Anglican church would apologize to Darwin “for misunderstanding you” and for “getting our first reaction wrong” to On the Origin of the Species (Daily Telegraph.)
According to the Times, Ravasi said the Anglican apology was “curious and significant” and showed “a mentality different than ours." He also told a Vatican endorsed conference on Darwin, “Maybe we should abandon the idea of issuing apologies as if history was a court eternally in session.” (Reuters.)
Current Pope Benedict has apologized for comments that appeared to link Islam and violence and has also apologized for child abuse by priests. Past Pope John Paul II previously apologized for condemning Galileo, among other things.
Read entire article at Great Beyond (blog at Nature magazine)
Catholic Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi said, “Evolutionary theory is not incompatible a priori with the teaching of the Catholic Church, with the message of the Bible and theology, and in actual fact it was never condemned.” (Catholic News Agency.)
Last week it was reported that the Anglican church would apologize to Darwin “for misunderstanding you” and for “getting our first reaction wrong” to On the Origin of the Species (Daily Telegraph.)
According to the Times, Ravasi said the Anglican apology was “curious and significant” and showed “a mentality different than ours." He also told a Vatican endorsed conference on Darwin, “Maybe we should abandon the idea of issuing apologies as if history was a court eternally in session.” (Reuters.)
Current Pope Benedict has apologized for comments that appeared to link Islam and violence and has also apologized for child abuse by priests. Past Pope John Paul II previously apologized for condemning Galileo, among other things.