And Lincoln, too, (which your blurb points out), but he deserves co-billing.
Not coincidentally, the following appeared in one of the Merc's online columns. Note that Rome not only says evolution is fine, but they completely diss Intelligent Design.
What's that new fish-with-legs sticker on the Popemobile?
Over the last half-century, the Catholic Church's position on Charles Darwin and evolution has, well, evolved beyond its historic hostility over the seeming conflict with a literal reading of scripture. In 1950, Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans, and in 1996 John Paul II said it was "more than a hypothesis." Now those respectful nods have become an embrace. In the run-up to a Vatican conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, declared evolution and the Christian faith compatible, saying, "In fact, what we mean by evolution is the world as created by God." Creationism, specifically in the form of "intelligent design," will rate a mention at the papal-backed conference, but only as a curiosity. "The committee agreed to consider ID as a phenomenon of an ideological and cultural nature, thus worthy of a historic examination, but certainly not to be discussed on scientific, philosophical or theological grounds," said Saverio Forestiero, a conference organizer and professor of zoology at the University of Rome.
Some related reading — an essay by Carl Safina arguing for the dismantling of the Darwin cult of personality: "Equating evolution with Charles Darwin ignores 150 years of discoveries, including most of what scientists understand about evolution. ... By propounding 'Darwinism,' even scientists and science writers perpetuate an impression that evolution is about one man, one book, one 'theory.' The ninth-century Buddhist master Lin Chi said, 'If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.' The point is that making a master teacher into a sacred fetish misses the essence of his teaching. So let us now kill Darwin."
