Word: darwins
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Headline writers (even TIME's) might be tempted to advertise a grudge match between the Holy Father and the high priest of natural selection. But look again. Our title promises the Pope AND Darwin, not the Pope VS. Darwin. Benedict XVI will indeed be hosting a scholarly powwow this weekend at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, to debate evolution and creation. But don't expect the Catholic Church to start disputing Darwin's basic findings, which Pope John Paul II in 1996 called "more than a hypothesis." Moreover, advocates of the teaching in U.S. schools...
...very much on the pontiff's mind. It is a "natural selection" of its own that this was the singular subject chosen by the Pope and his disciples for three days of lectures and discussion. Some conservative Catholics do indeed have growing doubts about the teaching of Darwin, which they say is now used to explain the very meaning of human existence. The issue of evolution has been on this pope's agenda from Day One, as Benedict proclaimed at his installation mass: "We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result...
...echo those expressed by backers of intelligent design, who include a mix of mostly Protestants and Roman Catholics. The ID advocates take pains to distinguish themselves from old-school "creationists," arguing instead that evolution has simply elbowed out any other explanation for how we or the world was created. Darwin, they worry, has become "Darwinism" - natural science transformed into dogmatic philosophy. Still, the heart of the battle in the U.S. is not about theology or philosophy. It's about location. Proponents say ID should be taught in biology class at public schools, and this is a debate that Benedict will...
...Beyond any eventual Vatican document specifically on evolution, the debate over Darwin may arise in the Church's ongoing battle on bioethics. In a speech last week at a Catholic conference in Rimini, Italy - a sort of public warmup for the high-stakes private lecture he will give at Castel Gandolfo - Sch?nborn condemned what he called "scientism," or the failure of those in the scientific community to recognize that their findings can't provide all the answers...
Watch TIME's video "Darwin and Lincoln: Birthdays and Evolution...