(Newswire.net — October 29, 2014) — According to new comments made by the Pope, the Big Bang and evolution both happened, however, it was God’s will. The Big Bang theory did not contradict the existence of God, said the Pope at religious meeting at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Sciences.
“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,” said the Pope.
According to the Pope, the theory which has led us to believe that some 13.8 billion years ago the Big Bang created the universe, and the evolution theory of mankind are completely compatible with the teachings of the Catholic Church, as it was God’s grand plan. This is because evolution requires that “beings are actually created so that evolutionary process can proceed.”
“Reality somewhat contradicts this notion that God is ‘a wizard with a magic wand’,” said the pope, implying God’s ability to do all things. “But it is not so. He created life and let each creature develop according to the natural laws which he had given each one,” according to the Pope.
Spiking in praise of his predecessor Benedict, Pope Francis criticized corruption, which he labeled to be a “worse evil than sin.”
Throughout the ages, the Church has a history of maintaining an anti-scientific stance, burning and torturing scholars or advanced thinkers such as Copernicus.
Pope Francis is following open evolutionary ideas from his predecessor Benedict XVI and John Paul II, who said in 1996 that evolution was more than a hypothesis and rather an “effectively proven fact.”
“Benedict XVI: a great pope, great for the strength and penetration of his intelligence, great for his contribution to theology, great for his love of the church and all humans, great for his virtues and religiosity,” the Pope said.
Pope Francis is renowned for his advanced and more open approach as he attempted to reconcile divorce and gay issues.
Conservative factions, however, have stated that the Papacy has been fomenting confusion within the Catholic Church over homosexuality and marriage issues.