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posted by LaminatorX on Tuesday October 28 2014, @11:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the he-aint-heavy-he's-il-Papa dept.

The Independent reports that Pope Francis, speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, has declared that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real.

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” said Francis.

“He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment."

Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they “require it”.

“The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it. Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

Experts say the Pope's comments put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI who spoke out against taking Darwin too far.

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday October 29 2014, @12:23AM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Wednesday October 29 2014, @12:23AM (#111018) Homepage

    That's exactly what he's doing, and it's a pretty sound business decision. More and more youth are growing up disenfranchised at religion for being just a bunch of angry judgmental bullshit too heavy on the fire and brimstone and too light on the feel-good belonging. And that's not even taking into account the antiscientific stances of most churches, which force a choice between science or religion which is often impossible to reconcile. The Catholic church in particular has had a strong intellectual tradition in spite of its persecutions and bullshittery, so again this Francissian mental gymnastic of a reconciliation is no surprise from that church in particular.

    The future of the Catholic church, and every other church which operates in civilized nations, depends on it. More and more people are figuring out that they don't need a big institutionalized guilt trip telling them they're horrible sinners while the collection plate's being passed around. Seriously, paying money to be labeled a sinner and threatened with eternal punishment.

    The Pope knows that's all bullshit. Much of the Clergy knows its all bullshit. But, dare I say, there are some good things about religious gatherings, and churches have finally figured out that being nice to people rather than threatening and guilt-tripping them attracts more newcomers and keeps more progressives in the group, a group which gets its collective power through connections rather than lack thereof.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 29 2014, @02:34AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 29 2014, @02:34AM (#111041)

    Seriously, paying money to be labeled a sinner and threatened with eternal punishment.

    Yeah, be fucked if I'm going to the cinema this holiday season either.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 29 2014, @01:45PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 29 2014, @01:45PM (#111142)

      They always make promises, but I tell ya, for all of their hot air, they don't do nearly as good a job as the dominatrices you can find on Craigslist. While their punishment may not be quite eternal, it at least is SOMETHING in return for the money spent. Besides, they make better use of the crosses, rather than just keeping them around as mere ornaments gathering dust...

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by mojo chan on Wednesday October 29 2014, @08:38AM

    by mojo chan (266) on Wednesday October 29 2014, @08:38AM (#111075)

    He's just shuffling the deckchairs as the boat sinks. He talks about wanting to recover numbers in Europe, but all the time European culture is moving further and further away from Catholic dogma and there is no way he can ever keep up with it. Contraceptives, gay rights etc.

    Catholicism is still strong in less developed countries, but as they bring up their levels of education and wealth the same thing is doing to happen. Perhaps the pope thinks he can head off what has happened in Europe by trying to reform his church now, but the gulf between what Catholic dogma is saying and between what people in developed countries think is just too vast.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)