Intelligent design not a religious tenet, says Bishop Wuerl

Published: 2005-09-22

PITTSBURGH (CNS) -- The theory of intelligent design is a rational explanation of the origin of life based on observation and not a "religious tenet superimposed on the facts," said Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of Pittsburgh. The bishop discussed intelligent design and evolution in a column appearing in the Sept. 16 Pittsburgh Catholic, the diocesan newspaper. Intelligent design holds that science can prove that an unnamed intelligent force is responsible for creation. Bishop Wuerl's views came at a time when a federal court in Pennsylvania was preparing to examine whether teaching intelligent design is introducing a religious creed into a local public school system. The column did not take a stand on the issue of teaching intelligent design as science in public schools. The column appeared shortly before the scheduled start of a federal court civil trial in Harrisburg challenging the policy of the Dover public school board requiring that ninth-grade students hear about intelligent design along with evolution. Plaintiffs complain that the teaching of intelligent design is an introduction of religion in the public schools making it a constitutional violation. Dover is a small town in the Harrisburg Diocese.

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