E-Mail ThisI think that the best thing the pope could do is affirm the Church's support for good science, which is basically what the letter is asking for, and avoid taking a stance on the _science_ of evolution. He has a model in Pius XII. This pontiff was ready to declare that big bang theory confirmed the doctrine of creation ex nihil, when one of the fathers of big bang theory, Abbe George Lemaitre, talked him out of it. Lemaitre pointed out the error the Church made in the Galileo case, and argued that it is a mistake for the Church to tie its doctrine of creation to any particular scientific paradigm. Or, in this case, as with Galileo, to reject any particular paradigm.
The next best thing would be for B16 to consult the members of the Pontifical Academy of Science for a clarification on the distinction between evolution as good science and "evolutionism" as materialistic philosophy. This is a distinction that Cardinal Schonborn does not seem to be clear on, and that is part of the problem with his statement (another part being his confusion over the various uses of the word "design").
George has a good point about the matter of the validity of Anglican orders. The present pontiff, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, JPII's chief theologian, issued a new statment on Angican orders in which he affirmed the statement of Leo XIII declaring them invalid and then took the further and very dubious step of saying that this was an infallible position, making a bad situation much worse. I have no hope that Anglican-RC relations will improve under this pontificate, despite the joint declaration on Mary and the Church. He as Cardinal Ratzinger and recently another curial cardinal have both made supportive statements to the dissident Network in the Episocopal Church which has condemned the consecration of Bishop Robinson and wants to split the church over it, an act of interference into the affairs of another denomination that is quite out of line, in my view.
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: George Murphy
To: Robert Schneider ; asa@calvin.edu
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 11:00 AM
Subject: Re: NYTimes.com: Questions for Pope on Evolution Stance
I have serious doubts about the wisdom of such a request. Sometimes it's best just to let Rome be silent about an issue rather than provoke what may be an unfortunate statement. An excellent example is the attempt by well meaning Anglo-Catholics (among others) in the late 19th century to get an official RC statement affirming the validity of Anglican orders. Even though the Roman attitude toward those orders had, since the Reformation, been generally negative, there had never been an official statement on the matter. The result of bringing the issue to a head was the dubious 1896 Apostolica Curae of Leo XIII that Anglican orders are "utterly invalid and altogether void," a statement that has burdened attempts for unity between the 2 communions ever since.
In the present situation we have significant but unofficial statements by John Paul II approving of evolution in a general sense, though with the usual Roman qualifications about the creation of the human soul. But to my knowledge there is no official Roman statement on the mechanism of evolution - Darwinian, neo-Darwinian, non-Darwinian or whatever. Requests for "clarification" of the Roman position could well result in statements that commit RC scientists to particular understandings of the way evolution works. This is especially the case if there is confusion (as there seems to be in the mind of Cardinal Schoenberg & certainly is for most ID partisans) about "direction" of the evolutionary process as a component of scientific theory and as a theological affirmation.
In addition there is in the background (as I noted a few days ago here) the decree of Vatican I making it de fide for RCs to affirm a natural knowledge of God apart from revelation. That would be best treated with benign neglect but I fear that in the hands of a conservative RC theologian like the present pope it won't be if the matter is forced upon him.
Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Schneider
To: asa@calvin.edu
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:05 AM
Subject: Fw: NYTimes.com: Questions for Pope on Evolution Stance
I hope that some other Catholic scientists, such as George Coyne, SJ, Director of the Vatican Observatory, and William Stoeger, SJ, astrophysicist with the Observatory, and their colleagues, will address this matter with the pope.
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 8:56 AM
Subject: NYTimes.com: Questions for Pope on Evolution Stance
This page was sent to you by: rjschn39@bellsouth.net
NATIONAL | July 13, 2005
Questions for Pope on Evolution Stance
By CORNELIA DEAN
Three scientists have asked Pope Benedict XVI to clarify the church's position in light of recent statements by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.
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Received on Thu Jul 14 11:47:00 2005
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