VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis recently waded into the debate over the origins of human life, saying the big bang theory did not contradict the role of a divine creator but required it.
“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,” he said. “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 said the beginning of the world was not “a work of chaos” but created from a principle of love. He said sometimes competing beliefs in creation and evolution could co-exist.
“God is not a divine being or a magician but the Creator who brought everything to life,” the pope said. “Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”
Catholic teaching traditionally has not been at odds with evolution. In 1950 Pope Pius XII said there was no opposition between evolution and Catholic doctrine. In 1996 St. John Paul II endorsed Pius’ statement.
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