Pope says evolution doesn't contradict creation

Pope Francis has said that the Big Bang theory does not contradict the intervention of God as a creator and warned his followers against the misinterpretation of biblical verses on the creation of the world.
“The Big Bang, that today is considered to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the creative intervention of God, on the contrary it requires it’,” Pope Francis said.
“When we read the account of creation in Genesis, we risk thinking that God was a magician, complete with a magic wand, able to do everything. But it is not like that,” the spritual leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics said.
“He created living beings and he let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave each one, so that they would develop and reach their full potential,” the Pope added.
He made the statements on Monday while speaking to members of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Science who met to discuss “The Evolving Concepts of Nature”.
He also said that evolution does not rule out God’s creation.
“Evolution in nature is not in contrast with the notion of (divine) creation because evolution requires the creation of the beings that evolve’,” the Pope said. Pope Francis said that God gave autonomy to the beings he created, and they went on for thousands of years until they became what they are now.
The Catholic Church leader had earlier made other controversial moves, including the issuing of a draft document that said the religious institution should be more accepting of homosexuals.
Catholic Bishops rejected the liberal approach to gays, saying it contradicted traditional family values. The debate showed deep divisions in the Vatican and led to a watered-down version of the document.
A two-paragraph section of the final agreed document was titled “Pastoral attention towards persons with homosexual orientations”.
The previous, three-paragraph version had been called “Welcoming homosexuals”.
The earlier version spoke of “accepting and valuing their sexual orientations” and giving gays “a welcoming home”.
The final version eliminated those phrases and most of the other language that church progressives and gay rights groups had hailed as a breakthrough.
Credit: AlJazeera