See why I’m not a Catholic? He just denied Scripture.
Care to be more specific? I read his actual words, not the MSNBC condensed version, and I didn't see any contradiction.
The Pope only needs to read the scriptures for an explanation of all life that existed prior to the fall of lucifer, “dinosaurs, etc.” Explained here:
http://www.jba.gr/Articles/nkjv_jbasep96.htm
No, no, no... He didn't deny Scripture, he defined Scripture for all us common, fallible, unwashed, unholy laypeople.
Ahh, but you didn't know that in the tradition of the early Christians, belief in evolution was widespread. ;)
Indeed he did!
Your right he sure did.
Yup, if Genesis is not to be regarded as historical and true, there is no reason to believe anything else there either.
BTW, the RCC jumpe the shark on this issue a long time ago. He is just re-iterating their already-known point of view. It is called “Theistic Evolution.” It is syncretism and it is not biblical.
How did he do that?
And what would that be, exactly?
The phrase "listening to the voice of the earth" is like saying, "listening to Mother Nature." The pope is certainly not a pantheist.
OTOH, I think the pope's personal judgement regarding the scientific evidence in favor of evolutionary theory is wrong. The evidence in favor of evolutionary theory seems to be ambiguous, at best.
We simply don't know how Man came to be. God could have created man instantaneously (Creationism), gradually (evolutionary theory/St. Augustine), or in successive stages (St. Thomas). The former and latter seem to be the most logical theories. The logical tension between evolutionary theory and aristotelian/scholastic realism seems to border on incoherence.
The fact that species, as a rule, enter and exit from the fossil record without any change in form, also weighs strongly against evolutionary theory. This evidence flatly contradicts Darwin's predictions regarding the fossil record. But the scientific evidence also seems to contradict young earth Creationism. Some kind of succession of special acts of creation is the most likely possibility at the moment, but the debate regarding man's origins is wide open right now. Perhaps it will always be so.
What part of Scripture did the Pope deny?