MESSAGE TO THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES:
ON EVOLUTION
Pope John Paul II
Magisterium Is Concerned with Question of Evolution for It Involves
Conception of Man
Message delivered to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences 22 October 1996
To the members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, in plenary assembly:
It is with great pleasure that I send my cordial greetings to you, Mr. President, and to
all of you who constitute the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, on the occasion ofyour plenary assembly. I send my particular best wishes to the new members of theAcademy, who come to take part in your work for the first time. I also wish to recall
the members who have died in the course of the past year; I entrust them to theMaker of all life.
1. In celebrating the 60th anniversary of the re-foundation of the Academy, it givesme pleasure to recall the intentions of my predecessor, Pius XI, who wished to bring
together around him a chosen group of scholars who could, working with complete
freedom, inform the Holy See about the developments in scientific research and thus
provide aid for reflections.
To those whom he enjoyed calling the Scientific Senate of the Church, he asked
simply this: that they serve the truth. That is the same invitation which I renew
today, with the certainty that we can all draw profit from "the fruitfulness of frankdialogue between the Church and science." (Discourse to the Academy of Sciences,
October 28, 1986, #1)
2. I am delighted with the first theme which you have chosen: the origin of life andevolution—an essential theme of lively interest to the Church, since Revelation
contains some of its own teachings concerning the nature and origins of man. Howshould the conclusions reached by the diverse scientific disciplines be brought
together with those contained in the message of Revelation? And if at first glancethese views seem to clash with each other, where should we look for a solution? Weknow that the truth cannot contradict the truth. (Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus)
However, in order better to understand historical reality, your research into therelationships between the Church and the scientific community between the 16thand 18th centuries will have a great deal of importance.
In the course of this plenary session, you will be undertaking a "reflection on sciencein the shadow of the third millennium," and beginning to determine the principal
problems which the sciences face, which have an influence on the future ofhumanity. By your efforts, you will mark out the path toward solutions which will

benefit all of the human community. In the domain of nature, both living andinanimate, the evolution of science and its applications gives rise to new inquiries.
The Church will be better able to expand her work insofar as we understand theessential aspects of these new developments. Thus, following her specific mission,
the Church will be able to offer the criteria by which we may discern the moral
behavior to which all men are called, in view of their integral salvation.
3. Before offering a few more specific reflections on the theme of the origin of lifeand evolution, I would remind you that the magisterium of the Church has alreadymade some pronouncements on these matters, within her own proper sphere ofcompetence. I will cite two such interventions here.
In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII has alreadyaffirmed that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faithregarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed
points.
For my part, when I received the participants in the plenary assembly of yourAcademy on October 31, 1992, I used the occasion—and the example of Gallileo—
to draw attention to the necessity of using a rigorous hermeneutical approach inseeking a concrete interpretation of the inspired texts. It is important to set proper
limits to the understanding of Scripture, excluding any unseasonable interpretations
which would make it mean something which it is not intended to mean. In order tomark out the limits of their own proper fields, theologians and those working on theexegesis of the Scripture need to be well informed regarding the results of the latest
scientific research.
4. Taking into account the scientific research of the era, and also the proper
requirements of theology, the encyclical Humani Generis treated the doctrine of"evolutionism" as a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and serious study,
alongside the opposite hypothesis. Pius XII added two methodological conditions
for this study: one could not adopt this opinion as if it were a certain anddemonstrable doctrine, and one could not totally set aside the teaching Revelation on
the relevant questions. He also set out the conditions on which this opinion would becompatible with the Christian faith—a point to which I shall return.
Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some newfindings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis.* Infact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on thespirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarlydisciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies—which wasneither planned nor sought—constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor ofthe theory.
What is the significance of a theory such as this one? To open this question is toenter into the field of epistemology. A theory is a meta-scientific elaboration, whichis distinct from, but in harmony with, the results of observation. With the help ofsuch a theory a group of data and independent facts can be related to one anotherand interpreted in one comprehensive explanation. The theory proves its validity by
the measure to which it can be verified. It is constantly being tested against the facts;
when it can no longer explain these facts, it shows its limits and its lack ofusefulness, and it must be revised.
Moreover, the elaboration of a theory such as that of evolution, while obedient to theneed for consistency with the observed data, must also involve importing some ideas
from the philosophy of nature.
And to tell the truth, rather than speaking about the theory of evolution, it is moreaccurate to speak of the theories of evolution. The use of the plural is required
here—in part because of the diversity of explanations regarding the mechanism ofevolution, and in part because of the diversity of philosophies involved. There arematerialist and reductionist theories, as well as spiritualist theories. Here the final
judgment is within the competence of philosophy and, beyond that, of theology.
5. The magisterium of the Church takes a direct interest in the question of evolution,
because it touches on the conception of man, whom Revelation tells us is created in
the image and likeness of God. The conciliar constitution Gaudium et Spes hasgiven us a magnificent exposition of this doctrine, which is one of the essential
elements of Christian thought. The Council recalled that "man is the only creatureon earth that God wanted for its own sake." In other words, the human person cannot
be subordinated as a means to an end, or as an instrument of either the species or thesociety; he has a value of his own. He is a person. By this intelligence and his will,
he is capable of entering into relationship, of communion, of solidarity, of the gift ofhimself to others like himself. St. Thomas observed that man's resemblance to God
resides especially in his speculative intellect, because his relationship with the objectof his knowledge is like God's relationship with his creation. (Summa Theologica III, q 3, a 5, ad 1) But even beyond that, man is called to enter into a loving
relationship with God himself, a relationship which will find its full expression at
the end of time, in eternity. Within the mystery of the risen Christ the full grandeurof this vocation is revealed to us. (Gaudium et Spes, 22) It is by virtue of his eternalsoul that the whole person, including his body, possesses such great dignity. Pius
XII underlined the essential point: if the origin of the human body comes throughliving matter which existed previously, the spiritual soul is created directly by God("animas enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides non retimere iubet"). (HumaniGeneris)
As a result, the theories of evolution which, because of the philosophies which
inspire them, regard the spirit either as emerging from the forces of living matter, oras a simple epiphenomenon of that matter, are incompatible with the truth aboutman. They are therefore unable to serve as the basis for the dignity of the humanperson.

6. With man, we find ourselves facing a different ontological order—an ontologicalleap, we could say. But in posing such a great ontological discontinuity, are we notbreaking up the physical continuity which seems to be the main line of research
about evolution in the fields of physics and chemistry? An appreciation for thedifferent methods used in different fields of scholarship allows us to bring together
two points of view which at first might seem irreconcilable. The sciences ofobservation describe and measure, with ever greater precision, the many
manifestations of life, and write them down along the time-line. The moment ofpassage into the spiritual realm is not something that can be observed in this way—although we can nevertheless discern, through experimental research, a series ofvery valuable signs of what is specifically human life. But the experience ofmetaphysical knowledge, of self-consciousness and self-awareness, of moral
conscience, of liberty, or of aesthetic and religious experience—these must be
analyzed through philosophical reflection, while theology seeks to clarify theultimate meaning of the Creator's designs.
7. In closing, I would like to call to mind the Gospel truth which can shed a greaterlight on your researches into the origins and the development of living matter. The
Bible, in fact, bears an extraordinary message about life. It shows us life, as it
characterizes the highest forms of existence, with a vision of wisdom. That vision
guided me in writing the encyclical which I have consecrated to the respect forhuman life and which I have entitled precisely The Gospel of Life.
It is significant that in the Gospel of St. John, life refers to that divine light which
Christ brings to us. We are called to enter into eternal life, which is to say theeternity of divine beatitude.
To set us on guard against the grave temptations which face us, our Lord cites thegreat words of Deuteronomy: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every wordthat comes from the mouth of God." (Deut 8:3; Mt 4:4)
Even more, life is one of the most beautiful titles which the Bible gives to God; he isthe living God.
With a full heart, I invoke upon all of you, and all to whom you are close, anabundance of divine blessings.
From the Vatican, October 22, 1996, John Paul II