The new Pope is happy to distance himself from the claims of his predecessor that it was more to do with 'intelligent design'.
Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Pope Francis has warned that Catholics should avoid "imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything", because it simply is not so.
Rather, he has lent his support to the theories of the Big Bang (not the TV show) and evolution, stating that rather than contradicting the existence of God, they require it: "The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it. Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve."
According to The Independent, John Paul II was also a strong advocate of evolution, calling it an "effectively proven fact", but both his views and those expressed by Francis differed from Benedict XVI, making this statement "significant" according to Professor Giovanni Bignami, president of Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics.
No word yet on whether Francis has actually seen The Big Bang Theory though...
Via The Independent
