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Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans in 1950

False.

Pope John Paul reiterated that in 1996.

John Paul said something similar to that not in his capacity as pastor but as a conference participant. His comments were not Church doctrine.

Darwin's theories were "never condemned by the Catholic Church nor was his book ever banned".

Darwin was not a Roman Catholic, and therefore the Catholic Church would not have censured him in the first place. This is Ravasi speaking to an ignorant press that has no idea how the Church works.

False.

John Paul said something similar to that not in his capacity as pastor but as a conference participant. His comments were not Church doctrine.

It is true that the Roman Catholic Church did not nor has it ever made it Doctrine for Catholics to believe in evolution but neither has it condemned it as a legitimate scientific field of study or forbade Catholics from studying it or accepting the science of evolution as long as Catholics did not as part of that acceptance, reject the Church’s teaching on the origins of the soul and other doctrines of faith.

Pope Pius XII's encyclical Humani Generis in 1950 stated:

"The Church does not forbid that...research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter."

The question of the origin of man's body from pre-existing and living matter is a legitimate matter of inquiry for natural science. Catholics are free to form their own opinions, but they should do so cautiously; they should not confuse fact with conjecture, and they should respect the Church's right to define matters touching on Revelation. Catholics must believe, however, that the human soul was created immediately by God. Since the soul is a spiritual substance it is not brought into being through transformation of matter, but directly by God, whence the special uniqueness of each person.

Pope John Paul II said much the same thing:

"...new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis."

John Paul II, 1996 in an October 22, 1996, address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Pope John Paul II updated the Church's position to accept evolution of the human body:

"In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII has already affirmed that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith regarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed points....Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis. In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies -- which was neither planned nor sought -- constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory."

In the same address, Pope John Paul II rejected any theory of evolution that provides a materialistic explanation for the human soul:

"Theories of evolution which, because of the philosophies which inspire them, regard the spirit either as emerging from the forces of living matter, or as a simple epiphenomenon of that matter, are incompatible with the truth about man."

Darwin was not a Roman Catholic, and therefore the Catholic Church would not have censured him in the first place. This is Ravasi speaking to an ignorant press that has no idea how the Church works.

The Catholic Church does not “censure” non-Catholics but has made condemnations regarding certain books and movies over the years, even those produced by non-Catholics, and has “banned” them for being unacceptable for Catholics.