Letter to the Editor -- Ila Johnson

Without getting into the pros and cons of the various theories of

evolution, so-called creationism, or the intelligent design theory, I

must take issue with letter writer William Bentley when he states that

”...the Roman Catholic Church and most mainstream Protestant

denominations accept evolution as the best present explanation for the

variety of fauna and flora that we see around us” (Community Commentary,

“Teach creationism, but not as science,” April 9).

Who made Bentley spokesperson for the Catholic Church? I cannot speak

to what “most mainstream Protestant denominations” accept, but as a

practicing Roman Catholic, I unequivocally refute that statement with

regard to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has never made any

definitive statement to that effect.

The church’s most recent statement regarding evolution was made by

Pope John Paul II in 1996 in an address to the Pontifical Academy of

Sciences, wherein he referred to the encyclical titled, “Humani Generis,”

issued in 1950 by his predecessor, Pope Pius XII. John Paul II said that

the encyclical “treated the doctrine of ‘evolutionism’ as a serious

hypothesis worthy of investigation and serious study along side the

opposite hypothesis.” John Paul II further stated that Pius XII added

that “one could not adopt the opinion [evolution] as if it were a certain

and demonstrable doctrine, and one could not totally set aside the

teaching Revelation on the relevant questions.”

John Paul II continued: “Today, more than a half-century after the

appearance of that encyclical, some new findings lead us toward the

recognition of evolution as more than one hypothesis within the theory of

evolution.” In other translations, the pope is quoted as saying “new

knowledge leads us to no longer consider the theory of evolution as just

a simple hypothesis.”

This is where the confusion arises. The mass media deduced and widely

reported that this “new knowledge” leads evolution to be considered a

scientific certainty by the church. But the pope’s statement merely

recognizes that science has progressed beyond the preliminary stage of

the scientific method commonly called a hypothesis. John Paul continues:

“Theory shows its validity insofar as it is open to verification; it is

constantly evaluated on the level of facts, and where it is no longer

demonstrated by facts, it manifests its limits and inadequacy. At this

point it must be thought out again.” Finally, John Paul II’s message

says, “in closing, I want to call to mind the Gospel truth which can shed

a greater light on your researches into the origins and the development

of living matter.”

The fact is, both popes have generally issued cautions with regard to

evolution as applied to biology. Neither “Humani Generis” nor John Paul

II’s message constitute Ex Cathedra (from the chair of Peter), church

doctrine to be definitely held in the deposit of faith. They do confirm

that the church is open to demonstrable scientific facts but that with

regard to the origin of life, the discovery of proof to support evolution

is perhaps light years away, if ever.

Furthermore, in the most recent edition of the Catechism of the

Catholic Church, published in 2000, there is no mention of evolution,

none at all, in the discussion of the origin of the universe. There has

been no acceptance by the Roman Catholic Church of evolution as the best

present explanation of the origin of man nor will there likely be any

time soon.

I also can’t allow to go unchallenged Bentley’s statement that

“science is only concerned with naturalistic events that take place in

the physical world. It is completely neutral with regard to the spiritual

world, religion and morality.” This may be true for science in general,

but it is certainly not true of evolutionism, which behaves much like a

religion with cherished, unquestionable beliefs, wraps itself in the

philosophy and dogma of materialistic naturalism, and takes on a decided

atheistic bent that denies any purpose to man’s existence. The Catholic

Church could never accept such a conclusion.

ILA JOHNSON

Costa Mesa