The Vatican rejects creationism

I know we progressives aren't too fond of the Catholic Church, but let's give credit where it's due. The Vatican today struck a blow for reason by soundly rejecting creationism:

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Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly.

His statement was a clear attack on creationist campaigners in the US, who see evolution and the Genesis account as mutually exclusive.

"The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim," he said at a Vatican press conference. He said the real message in Genesis was that "the universe didn't make itself and had a creator".

This idea was part of theology, Cardinal Poupard emphasised, while the precise details of how creation and the development of the species came about belonged to a different realm - science. [LINK thanks to Jeff Renshaw]

Yet more evidence that the Christian Right in this country is not 'conservative' -- as in traditional -- in any sense of the word, but the representative of a fringe extremist view of religion.