Vatican evolution congress to exclude creationism, intelligent design

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Vatican evolution congress to exclude creationism, intelligent design

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Speakers invited to attend a Vatican-sponsored congress on the evolution debate will not include proponents of creationism and intelligent design, organizers said.

The Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana are organizing an international conference in Rome March 3-7 as one of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.”

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Maranatha said:
Vatican evolution congress to exclude creationism, intelligent design

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Speakers invited to attend a Vatican-sponsored congress on the evolution debate will not include proponents of creationism and intelligent design, organizers said.

The Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana are organizing an international conference in Rome March 3-7 as one of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.”

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and…

…Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the other extreme of the evolution debate – proponents of an overly scientific conception of evolution and natural selection – also were not invited.

Perhaps this could be the answer to my thread question titled Catholic Traditon vs Science - are we looking deep enough
 
I hope this finally puts to rest the constant creationism threads on here.
 
Maranatha said:
Vatican evolution congress to exclude creationism, intelligent design

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Speakers invited to attend a Vatican-sponsored congress on the evolution debate will not include proponents of creationism and intelligent design, organizers said.

The Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana are organizing an international conference in Rome March 3-7 as one of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.”

more
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3 Academic institutions not acting in a theological or teaching sense are sponsoring a conference. The overall debate will continue to go on as nothing has led to a definitive judgment on the topic.

I have to scratch my head on this one. Any of the speakers (probably mostly academics, professors, biologists, etc.) could have gathered together on their own to host a conference like this. Why be involved with something like this when an institution like the Pontifical Council for Culture could be discussing issues on how to fix our failed catechizing and evangelizing in Latin America, Europe, and Asia on an continent wide scale. Part of it has to do with culture I think. But nevertheless our money, time, and resources is getting spent elsewhere.
 
Why would they include creationists and IDers. who have said rather insulting things about people who hold the views expressed by our Pope?

Most of these people detest Catholics. You might as well ask why Hamas wasn’t invited to an Israeli conference on Judaisim.
 
The_Barbarian said:
Why would they include creationists and IDers. who have said rather insulting things about people who hold the views expressed by our Pope?

Most of these people detest Catholics. You might as well ask why Hamas wasn’t invited to an Israeli conference on Judaisim.
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I think your post is rather unfair in judgment.
  1. No citation of these people. There are many people, including academics who would subscribe to those two views.
  2. Generalizing those people as being ALL of those who hold those views. Not ALL of these people are Anti-Catholic, and I would go further in saying that the real number is only a handful out of hundreds to thousands at best.
  3. To equate these people in analogy with the terrorist group Hamas is a little extreme and inappropriate for the context of this situation.
 
NReily said:
3 Academic institutions not acting in a theological or teaching sense are sponsoring a conference. The overall debate will continue to go on as nothing has led to a definitive judgment on the topic.

I have to scratch my head on this one. Any of the speakers (probably mostly academics, professors, biologists, etc.) could have gathered together on their own to host a conference like this. Why be involved with something like this when an institution like the Pontifical Council for Culture could be discussing issues on how to fix our failed catechizing and evangelizing in Latin America, Europe, and Asia on an continent wide scale. Part of it has to do with culture I think. But nevertheless our money, time, and resources is getting spent elsewhere.
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Catechesis is not the domain of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Pius XII foundd it to deal with sociological, scientific, economic, artistic and political issues that affect Catholics.

Catechesis falls under Evangelization and Education. There is a Pontifical Council for that.

Also, Benedict XVI wants the Pontifical Council on Culture to deal with matters that concern reason. He made his position very clear in New York when he said that faith and reason are inseparable. He has always been a supporter of using reason to enlighten faith. This is part of his Augustinian and Franciscan formation. At different gatherings of the scientific community he has encouraged the scientific community to involve the Church in its research. This is consistent with Church tradition. Monks were some of the greatest scientists in human history.

JR 🙂
 
JReducation said:
Catechesis is not the domain of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Pius XII foundd it to deal with sociological, scientific, economic, artistic and political issues that affect Catholics.

Catechesis falls under Evangelization and Education. There is a Pontifical Council for that.

Also, Benedict XVI wants the Pontifical Council on Culture to deal with matters that concern reason. He made his position very clear in New York when he said that faith and reason are inseparable. He has always been a supporter of using reason to enlighten faith. This is part of his Augustinian and Franciscan formation. At different gatherings of the scientific community he has encouraged the scientific community to involve the Church in its research. This is consistent with Church tradition. Monks were some of the greatest scientists in human history.

JR 🙂
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I am not talking about the content so much, I understand that they are two separate institutions dealing with different issues, but having a group of people dealing with those types of issues also matters when culture may be part of the problem (and i think this is the case.)

I am not diminishing the need for talking about scientific issues, but when you have 3 continents where the church is present that are in need of some serious fixing in these areas, I think some more time spent on that would be a good thing.
 
NReily said:
I am not talking about the content so much, I understand that they are two separate institutions dealing with different issues, but having a group of people dealing with those types of issues also matters when culture may be part of the problem (and i think this is the case.)

I am not diminishing the need for talking about scientific issues, but when you have 3 continents where the church is present that are in need of some serious fixing in these areas, I think some more time spent on that would be a good thing.
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But this is being addressed. Asia, Africa and Latin America have more religious and clergy than Europe and North America. They’re sending us missionaries these days. They have many good pastoral programs and very active parishes. They also have a very involved laity.

The Asians and the Africans have given birth to more new religious communities of Brothers and Sisters than the USA and Europe have within the last 40 years.

The number of vocations for Religious Brothers in Latin America, the Philipines, India, Africa and the Caribbean is greater than that of the USA and Europe.

Right now the Missionaris of Charity are sending more Sisters and Brothers to the USA than we are sending to India. The Missionaries of the Poor are sending more Brothers to the USA from Jamaica, than we are sending to the Caribbean. The Capuchins Franciscans in the Caribbean, New Guinea and Australia have more profession of Religious Brothers than they do in the USA and Europe. The Australians have three new religious communities for celibate and married couples, we have only one such community in the USA.

There are more Secular Institutes for celibate men and women in Latin America than there are in the USA and Europe. Opus Dei leads the largest number of them. The Philipines are exporting clerics to the Americas, as are the Africans.

I’m not sure how one can say that these continents are in greater need than Europe and North America (USA, Greenland, Canada and Mexico together).

Check out the websites of communities like the Brothers of the Poor, the Missionaries of Charity, the Capuchins in Australia, Malta, and India. In fact, I know some Americans who have left the USA to join these communities and other secular institutes and societies of apostolic life in the developing nations, because we don’t have enough here to offer them a place.

We need to promote these forms of life in our own culture. We have to welcome them into our culture.

The Secular Franciscans alone number one milllion around the world. In other countries they run hospitals, orphanages, schools, catechetical centres, crisis centers, social service centers and in Israel they run the Franciscan Institute for the Family. In the USA they are usually shunned by the laity, becaues they are not priests.

We have a cultural problem here that the laity and the bishops need to address regarding different forms of consecrated life and ministry. We are still stuck on the parish and parish priest model. We don’t know enough about other forms of ministry and evangelical life that have existed in the Church for centuries and that are being born every day in on other continents.

I believe the problem that you’re referring to is a European and North American problem. We have taken secularism to a level that was not mean to be.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
JReducation said:
But this is being addressed. Asia, Africa and Latin America have more religious and clergy than Europe and North America. They’re sending us missionaries these days. They have many good pastoral programs and very active parishes. They also have a very involved laity.

The Asians and the Africans have given birth to more new religious communities of Brothers and Sisters than the USA and Europe have within the last 40 years.

The number of vocations for Religious Brothers in Latin America, the Philipines, India, Africa and the Caribbean is greater than that of the USA and Europe.

Right now the Missionaris of Charity are sending more Sisters and Brothers to the USA than we are sending to India. The Missionaries of the Poor are sending more Brothers to the USA from Jamaica, than we are sending to the Caribbean. The Capuchins Franciscans in the Caribbean, New Guinea and Australia have more profession of Religious Brothers than they do in the USA and Europe. The Australians have three new religious communities for celibate and married couples, we have only one such community in the USA.

There are more Secular Institutes for celibate men and women in Latin America than there are in the USA and Europe. Opus Dei leads the largest number of them. The Philipines are exporting clerics to the Americas, as are the Africans.

I’m not sure how one can say that these continents are in greater need than Europe and North America (USA, Greenland, Canada and Mexico together).

Check out the websites of communities like the Brothers of the Poor, the Missionaries of Charity, the Capuchins in Australia, Malta, and India. In fact, I know some Americans who have left the USA to join these communities and other secular institutes and societies of apostolic life in the developing nations, because we don’t have enough here to offer them a place.

We need to promote these forms of life in our own culture. We have to welcome them into our culture.

The Secular Franciscans alone number one milllion around the world. In other countries they run hospitals, orphanages, schools, catechetical centres, crisis centers, social service centers and in Israel they run the Franciscan Institute for the Family. In the USA they are usually shunned by the laity, becaues they are not priests.

**We have a cultural problem here that the laity and the bishops need to address regarding different forms of consecrated life and ministry. We are still stuck on the parish and parish priest model. We don’t know enough about other forms of ministry and evangelical life that have existed in the Church for centuries and that are being born every day in on other continents.

I believe the problem that you’re referring to is a European and North American problem. We have taken secularism to a level that was not mean to be.**

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
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You are correct about that. I would love to see that addressed as well. Basically my point was just that I at least recently speaking haven’t heard people from the top getting together to discuss this type of stuff (maybe they are). But I would like to hear about it if this is the case.
 
NReily said:
You are correct about that. I would love to see that addressed as well. Basically my point was just that I at least recently speaking haven’t heard people from the top getting together to discuss this type of stuff (maybe they are). But I would like to hear about it if this is the case.
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It’s not discussed in the USA and it’s a shame. I belong to a community of Consecrated Secular Franciscans. We have more than 2,000 in my region of the country. We are teachers, doctors, lawyers, mechanics, nurses, secretaries, business administrators, and more. We pledge our lives to live the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis. We put our talents, property, time, prayer, penance, silence, liturgical life, and community at the disposal of the Church and the poor.

We have to knock on doors to see who wants our presence and service in their parish, catholic institution or other ministry. Bishops, priests and often laity know we exist. But they don’t make good use of our gifts and our Franciscan spirituality.

Younger Secular Franciscans have volunteered to go to foreign missions where they are needed and welcome. The older ones who are too old or sick to travel stay home. Why should our younger Secular Franciscans be leaving our country when we need witnesses of consecrated life among the laity?

We have a Pontifical Council on Culture. Guess what? Many of our Brothers and Sisters know about these matters and could be explaiing them to the laity in the parishes. Why aren’t they sought out? Every Franciscan Fraternity exists with the blessing of the local bishop. Yet, we’re the best kept secret in the Catholic Church in America.

Like us there are other Secular Orders, Institutes of Apostolic LIfe, Secular Institutes and Associations of the Faithful that can shed light on what the Pontifical Council is trying to achieve in this particular area. Almost every single one of these organizations has several people involved in the sciences or in education who would be more than happy to share at the local level.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
To exclude “Intelligent Design” is to exclude the mind and hand of God. How can this conference reach any conclusion that is true? God is Truth. Exclude God and there is no way to arrive at truth.

At our homeschooling website,
www.catholichomeschoolersbookshelf.com
we carry books by the protestant group, Institute for Creation Research (ICR), which in my judgement make a lot of sense. In one book several years ago I detected something I thought could be interpreted as a slur at the Church. I wrote expressing my concern and in the next printing of the book the item was removed.

I think the Church is bending over backwards to accomodate “scientists” who are not true scientists in that they exclude at the outset the possibility of arriving at a conclusion (intelligent design by a Creator) with which they are uncomfortable or which they adamantly deny.

In principium erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum. Et Verbum erat Deus. All things were made through Him and without Him was made nothing that was made. … Perhaps that last gospel at every Mass was repetitious. But it was a teaching tool that this generation needs and of which it has been deprived. This is a prime example of “Lex orandi, lex credendi.”
 
The title is Misleading.

The Catholic Church finds creation and evolution compatible and ALL extremists, from both ends, were denied a venue.
While there has been Catholic commentary on the compatibility of faith and evolutionary theories, there is no definitive written source to which people can refer to learn the church’s position, he said.
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It’s true. At the beginning of the universe, there was only hydrogen and a little helium.

There is no reason to be offended that God chose this way of making human bodies.

The Catholic Church does not object to that fact.
 
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