Carol Glatz of the Catholic News Service reports from Vatican City: (my bolding)
Speakers invited to attend a Vatican-sponsored congress on the evolution debate will not include proponents of creationism and intelligent design, organizers said.
The Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana are organizing an international conference in Rome March 3-7 as one of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."
Jesuit Father Marc Leclerc, a philosophy professor at the Gregorian, told Catholic News Service Sept. 16 that organizers "wanted to create a conference that was strictly scientific" and that discussed rational philosophy and theology along with the latest scientific discoveries.
He said arguments "that cannot be critically defined as being science, or philosophy or theology did not seem feasible to include in a dialogue at this level and, therefore, for this reason we did not think to invite" supporters of creationism and intelligent design.
The Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana are organizing an international conference in Rome March 3-7 as one of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."
Jesuit Father Marc Leclerc, a philosophy professor at the Gregorian, told Catholic News Service Sept. 16 that organizers "wanted to create a conference that was strictly scientific" and that discussed rational philosophy and theology along with the latest scientific discoveries.
He said arguments "that cannot be critically defined as being science, or philosophy or theology did not seem feasible to include in a dialogue at this level and, therefore, for this reason we did not think to invite" supporters of creationism and intelligent design.
The Times Online also notes that
The debate . . . . is said to have the full blessing of Pope Benedict, a fervent advocate of what he views as the compatibility of faith with reason.
Kudos to the Pope for blessing a conference which doesn't recognize creationism or intelligent design as scientific ideas, despite the best efforts of the Discovery Institute to spin Pope Benedict's opinion the other way.
So the Catholic Church doesn't recognize ID as either science OR philosophy OR theology? Does this mean that the Church recognizes it for what it is? - A sneaky attempt by a particular Christian sect to get their teachings forced on everyone else's kids.
On the other hand, note that
Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the other extreme of the evolution debate -- proponents of an overly scientific conception of evolution and natural selection -- also were not invited.
I guess this means neither PZ nor Dawkins will be invited.
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
