"Is Evolution an Open Question for Catholics?"
Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation
By way of analogy, if some scholars had suggested in the 1500’s that spontaneous generation was how all life forms had always arisen, including human beings, this would have been a challenge to Church doctrine. So if a Pope of the time had declared that the Church “does not forbid research and discussion of the possibility of spontaneous generation and any relevant theological implications concerning the origin of the first human being”, one would think that the Pope’s concern would have been fully answered when the later scientific findings of Louis Pasteur were fully known. Once spontaneous generation was found to be impossible, any previous permission to investigate it would have lost any possible status of being an open question scientifically and would have lapsed from being a threat doctrinally. The fact that such hypothetical papal permission may not have been closed by Rome for many years afterwards would not have changed the strength of this argument. Such delay could have been influenced by all sorts of other factors at work, such as war or the outbreak of terrible diseases. One can argue that Rome’s not having closed the modern evolution discussion has been greatly affected by a variety of distracting factors, such as the strong pro-evolution bias of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the catastrophic collapse of belief within Catholicism.
Unfortunately, some Catholics oppose Special Creation on the mistaken ground that its proponents overstate the case; they fear that private opinions may be imposed and portrayed as though Church doctrine. But the objective truth is quite the opposite; for too long the actual Church teachings have been greatly understated and not imparted rigorously to enough Catholic students. Given the continuing falling away from the practice of Catholicism and the ongoing need for conversion of an increasingly pagan society, there is a pressing need for the full truth of Special Creation to be taught in Catholic schools and preached far and wide. The investigation recognized by Pius XII is of course still open until Rome declares otherwise. All that remains is for the Magisterium to close the final chapter on an outmoded, unlamented, mistaken belief called evolution.