EVENTS

STOQ 2009 – THE STOQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
«BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION. Facts and Theories»

Abstracts of the Lectures:

Rafael Martinez, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Italy

The Reception of Evolutionary Theories in the Church

Interaction between scientific theories and the cultural or religious community is often presented according two radically different views: the conflict image, made popular in the late nineteenth century by W. Draper and A. D. White, and the harmony view, sometimes presented with apologetic intention. Both interpretations appear in some way reductionist, and requiring a further examination of the historical, epistemological and cultural context of the encounter between science and faith. The reception of a new scientific theory is always a complex phenomenon. Conflicts are usually caused by many different factors, and they could appear different when considering the attitudes of single scientists or thinkers, believers or not, or those of different groups and communities, such as academic scientific or theological communities, intellectual milieu, press, pastors, local or universal authorities.
The reception of evolutionary theories in the Catholic Church during the last decades of nineteenth century clearly shows that complexity. Recent declarations of the last Popes have asserted the full accordance of Catholic doctrine and evolutionary biology, although discordant opinions have been sometimes expressed within the Church. During twentieth century, Catholic theology has also gradually accepted that compatibility. However, during the last part of nineteenth century, the reaction of Catholic theologians, intellectuals and pastors to the Darwinian theory was generally negative. In some cases it declared opposition, and gave origin to some local conflicts.
The attitude that Vatican authorities keep regarding evolution in that period, has been generally poorly known. Although no explicit condemn of evolution was issued, theology handbooks spread the idea that the Holy See opposed itself to evolutionary theories. The actual circumstances were not clearly known.

Only after the opening of the Archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in 1998, it has been possible to reconstruct the actions of Vatican authorities against evolutionary authors, on the ground of the documents conserved on the Archives of the Index and the Holy Office, trying to better understand the interaction between the new scientific proposal of Darwinian theories, and the different philosophical, theological and ecclesiastical positions of that period.
Evolution could have become "another Galileo case." Fortunately, the attempts made to condemn evolution, did not succeed, although the common attitude regarding those who propose a Christian evolution were sometimes harsh. Examining in detail the process would it be possible to gain a more precise insight on the meaning of Catholic attitude about evolution. It could also throw some light on religious-based objections that today are sometimes presented against evolution.