There are different scientific theories about the origin of man and the evolution of life on Earth. These theories are often presented as being in conflict with Catholic teaching.
The Catholic Church teaches that creation is a process which is ongoing and under the control of a loving God.
God brings all things into existence which means that all things are connected to each other.
Theories of evolution that reflect this design and control of God are compatible with Catholic teaching.
The Catholic Church allows for theories where the human body developed over time but insists that each human soul is created specially by God, does not evolve, and is not inherited from parents.
Scientific truth and sacred truth do not contradict each other:
God continues to create:
In the day that the Lord God made the Earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the Earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the Earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the Earth and watered the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2: 1-7
If humans evolved, God created them to do that:
Evolution requires guidance and direction from God:
“God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.” Man occupies a unique place in creation: he is “in the image of God”; in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; he is created “male and female”; God established him in his friendship.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 355
Evolution may explain how God created man:
God created a world where evolution is possible:
For these reasons the Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, 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 – for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.
Pope Pius XII, Human Generis, August 12, 1950
The body may evolve but the soul does not:
The Church helps Catholics understand evolution:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Jesus works through his priests:
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