Scientists want pope to reaffirm compatibility of evolution, faith

Published: 2005-07-14

CLEVELAND (CNS) -- Three prominent U.S. scientists have asked Pope Benedict XVI to reaffirm the compatibility of evolution with the Catholic faith in light of a critical article by Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna. In an article in the July 7 New York Times, the cardinal "appeared to dangerously redefine the church's view on evolution," they said. The three scientists are Lawrence Krauss, physics and astronomy professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland; Francisco Ayala, evolutionary biology and philosophy professor at the University of California-Irvine; and Kenneth Miller, biology professor at Brown University in Providence, R.I. In the Times article Cardinal Schonborn wrote, "Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense -- an unguided, unplanned process of random variation and natural selection -- is not."

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