Are you a ‘creationist’?
No, because we arrived at our position before we even knew about creationists. Our position is different, first of all because we’re Catholics. From what I can see, creationism is mainly a movement of evangelicals. Their approach to religion is different. We once had a lecture by an evangelical scientist who works in genetics and considers himself a creationist. On scientific grounds, good relations with the creationists are possible, but it’s a different position. We are not committed, for example, to a literal reading of the Bible. Catholics read the Bible in terms of church tradition, the fathers of the church, and so on. Quite often, Biblical literalism means that each person interprets the Bible for himself.
What do you think of ‘intelligent design’?
We discovered the intelligent design movement some years ago, and we study it with interest. Certainly on the idea of design in nature, we agree. Several articles that we have published in our quarterly come from intelligent design sources.
Once again, the difference is that we are Catholics. In general, the intelligent design movement intentionally tries to stay away from the question of religion. If it’s a matter of an intellectual approach to explaining nature as the result of intelligent design, I would agree with that. But we believe that this designer can be known from religion.
What do you expect from the Schülerkreis meeting?
I expect that the debate will go further. Some months ago, Cardinal Schönborn published an essay in First Things on this subject that I found interesting, and I translated it into French. I sent it to him along with my letter to the pope. In reply, Schönborn said that the debate is going on, and he’s delighted with that. At the time, I was unsure of what Schönborn was thinking, because what he was saying at that time was unclear.
What I hope the meeting at Castelgandolfo means is that this scientific debate will interest philosophers and theologians more and more. For many theologians, the very fact that there’s a debate within science is something new.
Do you think Benedict XVI will make a formal statement on evolution?
I think it is too early. I think he’s using the meeting of his Schülerkreis to give a broader extension to the debate. But even if he himself knows where he wants to go, and I believe he does, it will take more time. Most Catholic intellectuals today are convinced that evolution is obviously true because most scientists say so. To show that debate is possible on scientific grounds, and also on philosophical and theological grounds, is more than a question of a few months. In the meantime, what I see is that in his normal daily teaching, Benedict is providing some glimpse into the importance of creation and so on. I do not expect, however, an official theological statement quickly.
You say you think you know where the pope wants to go. Where is that?
In the past, Cardinal Ratzinger was convinced that evolution was true, and being an intelligent man, he devised a way to make it compatible with theological truth. Today I think his view is different. Some years ago, he began to understand that there is a difference between micro and macro-evolution, which is an important point for him. At a conference in Germany, he actually said that this was one of the most important experiences of his life. The fact that he devoted three pages to the subject of evolution in Truth and Tolerance is by itself abnormal. He grasps that micro and macro-evolution are not the same, and I think he believes people accepted an atheistic world view in relation to evolution because they accepted the confusion between micro and macro-evolution. He wants people to understand this important truth.
If he doesn’t make a statement, how will he do this?
I think he will use Cardinal Schönborn once more, or perhaps several more times. They know each other well, Schönborn understands where the pope wants to go, and together they are devising a way. Sometimes the best way to get from A to B is not by a direct path. The first thing is to let people know that debate is possible. Ultimately, the solution will be given by science, because evolution in itself is a scientific question. But it’s important to let theologians know that within the scientific world, debate is not only possible, but it’s happening right now. For the moment, only that will change the minds of theologians, because in too many cases their thoughts are subordinate to science.
I just said intelligence didn’t i!
(joking, joking… 
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