Do Catholics believe in evolution or are they fundamentalists?

Catholics are not fundamentalists. They do not consider the Bible to be a history book, a biography, and certainly not a science textbook. The Catholic Church gives credence to both sound scientific theory and religious interpretations of the origins of the world. Moreover, the church has often encouraged dialogue between science and religion. For example, the Vatican Observatory was designed to keep the church on the cutting edge of modern scientific thought. Fr. George Coyne, SJ, the former director of the observatory, tells us we need to be careful about defining religious belief as science: “Scientific evolution is the best scientific explanation we have of the aging of the universe and ourselves coming to be in the universe.”

Watch the video to find out more about the Catholic Church’s view on evolution as well as the intersection of science and faith.