"Is Evolution an Open Question for Catholics?"
Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation
If Pius XII had known in 1950 what is now known in the 21st Century, there would have been no need for an investigation since the Pope would have known that God has designed life forms so that evolution cannot occur and that pro-evolution arguments lead inevitably to conflict with doctrine. Evolution would only have been an open question scientifically for the time being after 1950 but that time has passed many years ago. And enough arguments have by now been assembled to show that pro-evolution arguments are unable to dislodge the integrity of the Genesis account plus they contradict the encyclical teachings of Leo XIII and Pius XII. So the idea of evolution possibly being an open question both scientifically and doctrinally has lapsed from relevance.
Unfortunately, the 80 member Pontifical Academy of Sciences-which contains members who are not Catholics and at least one atheist, the famous UK cosmologist Stephen Hawking-are passing incorrect information in support of evolution to Pope John Paul II. This Academy has no authority in matters of faith and doctrine and expresses only the views of its own members. If any members are not evolutionists, they must be very muted in their opposition; when do we ever hear publicly about any dissenting minority reports?
Given Rome’s historical preference for caution in matters doctrinal, permission to investigate evolution was not in contradiction with the fact that strong doctrinal beliefs already existed against evolution, just as Paul VI’s later permission to investigate contraception was not in contradiction with already declared doctrine against birth control. Permission to speculate on doctrinal matters must remain within the constraints of conforming to already declared doctrine.
All that really matters now is that a good understanding of what constitutes evolution became known in the decades after 1953. The natural gaining of higher genetic information was found to be impossible and what is objectively impossible cannot also be possible at the same time. Since evolution correctly defined is impossible, it cannot be an open question scientifically and, in keeping with Pius XII’s concern expressed in Humani Generis, it should not be allowed to impact upon Catholic doctrine.