Daniel Berger Didn’t Do His Homework

“Pope Francis made a significant rhetorical break with Catholic tradition Monday by declaring that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real,” announced MSBNC reporter Daniel Berger. He is, to excuse him a little, a “policy wonk” who covers politics and whose favorite tv shows are The Rachel Maddow Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and Morning Joe — but only a little because a reporter is honor-bound not to make claims when he has no idea what he’s talking about and not cheat with knowledge-feigning words like “arguably” (see below).

But Berger continues:

Breaking with his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who arguably encouraged creationism and intelligent design theory, Francis explained that both evolution and the Big Bang are not incompatible with the existence of God. In fact, he said, they “require it.”

God “created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment,” the pope said. “Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

You are, of course, gaping open-mouthed at this. Berger could simply have read the Wikipedia entry, which says:

The Church has deferred to scientists on matters such as the age of the earth and the authenticity of the fossil record. Papal pronouncements, along with commentaries by cardinals, have accepted the findings of scientists on the gradual appearance of life. In fact, the International Theological Commission in a July 2004 statement endorsed by Cardinal Ratzinger, then president of the Commission and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, later Pope Benedict XVI, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, includes this paragraph:

According to the widely accepted scientific account, the universe erupted 15 billion years ago in an explosion called the ‘Big Bang’ and has been expanding and cooling ever since. Later there gradually emerged the conditions necessary for the formation of atoms, still later the condensation of galaxies and stars, and about 10 billion years later the formation of planets. In our own solar system and on earth (formed about 4.5 billion years ago), the conditions have been favorable to the emergence of life.

While there is little consensus among scientists about how the origin of this first microscopic life is to be explained, there is general agreement among them that the first organism dwelt on this planet about 3.5–4 billion years ago. Since it has been demonstrated that all living organisms on earth are genetically related, it is virtually certain that all living organisms have descended from this first organism. Converging evidence from many studies in the physical and biological sciences furnishes mounting support for some theory of evolution to account for the development and diversification of life on earth, while controversy continues over the pace and mechanisms of evolution.

Here is the ITC’s statement, titled Communion and Stewardship:Human Persons Created in the Image of God. The Church is relatively indifferent to the mechanism of the development of life. In talking about creation, her main concern is what the creation means for man. See the section on “The Creator” (numbers 279 to 324) in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here are the most relevant items:

283 The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers. With Solomon they can say: “It is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements . . . for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.”

284 The great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question of another order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural sciences. It is not only a question of knowing when and how the universe arose physically, or when man appeared, but rather of discovering the meaning of such an origin: is the universe governed by chance, blind fate, anonymous necessity, or by a transcendent, intelligent and good Being called “God”? and if the world does come from God’s wisdom and goodness, why is there evil? Where does it come from? Who is responsible for it? Is there any liberation from it?

So: Breaking News! Pope Francis agrees with his predecessors! Says something almost no one will argue with!

My thanks to Peter Blair of Fare Forward for the link.