How should YOU feel about Papa Francis?

In the 1950s, Pope Pius the Twelfth wrote that he hoped evolution would "prove to be

a passing fad," BUT that it doesn't contradict faith as long as "ensouling" of humans was

left to God. Pope John Paul the second said in a 1982 book, that evolution was an "effectively

proven fact." AND More recently, Pope Francis said God isn't a magician, and creation lasted

millions of years while the evolutionary processes played out. And yet, a 2014 Gallup poll found

42 percent of the American people believe the world was magically created in 7 days,

and that we hold dominion to destroy it as we wish… This kind of makes you wonder what

religious leaders are really teach us about science…

The Catholic church has long been party to the scientific community. In the mid-1700s,

Pope Benedict the Fourteenth formed academies of science, art and religion, and the Big

Bang was originally proposed by Georges Lemaître - a Belgian Cosmologist and Catholic priest!

Some religious people are definitely science bros. More recently, Pope John Paul the Second

wrote in a letter to the Vatican Observatory, a Church-run telescope dedicated to astronomical

research, "Science can purify religion from error and superstition," that "Molecular biologists

have probed the structure of living material," showing the, "unity of nature." And with this

in mind, "Simple neutrality is no longer acceptable," keeping religion and science exclusive from

one another "fosters a fragmented vision of the world."

JPII was all SCIENCE AND RELIGION NEEDTA BE BROS, and that was back in 1988! Religious

institutions have spent centuries trying to learn more about "God's Creation" through

science. Even celebrated scientist Galileo Galilei was offered a place in the Pontifical

Academy of Science back in 1610! Of course... the Roman Inquisition later imprisoned him

for attempting to reinterpret the Bible, but good times come and go for both science and

religion.

Before joining the Catholic establishment at 32, Pope Francis was called Jorge Mario

Bergoglio and he was much like you or me. He worked as a bouncer in a nightclub, and

went to a technical school in Buenos Aires, graduating with something akin to an associate's

degree as a chemical technician! POPE FRANCIS IS DOWN WITH SCIENCE TOO.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis issued a 98-page plea to all the bishops of the Roman Catholic

Church to stop climate destruction. He commented that Christians should care for the environment

and admitted that humans affected our changing climate, saying, "most global warming in recent

decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases." But, that wasn’t the

first time he made a huge splash in the political and scientific communities!

In 2014, Pope Francis said, in a conversation with the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, “Evolution

in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the

creation of beings that evolve." He went on to say there is evidence for evolution and

it is a "reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life." He also

remarked that the Big Bang is "considered to be the origin of the world." He was clear

when he said, these ideas are NOT contradictory to God or the teachings of the Church. This

is the Pope, guys.

When this happened, there were some collective heads exploding across the spacious skies,

amber waves of grain, and on the purple mountain majesties… because a select group of Americans

have long rallied against these exact messages! And yet, here's a religious leader, acknowledging

and accepting them.

Perhaps the surprise that a Pope would come out in favor of science, is exacerbated by

the fact that only 20 percent of people in a 2013 Pew study knew nitrogen was the most

abundant gas in our atmosphere; and only 58 percent knew CO2 causes rising temperatures.

Perhaps it's because americans don't science good.

Despite his more progressive views on climate change and evolution, Pope Francis' alignment

with the Church on contraception, expanding roles for women, and allowing priests to marry

hasn't budged.

So, whether Pope Francis the most scientific Pope is a solid 'maybe.' Yes, things have

changed in the last century, but the Church has definitely been SCIENTIFICALLY FRIENDLY

for a few hundred years. Instead, I think, as we've become a more polarized culture;

we're simply more surprised to hear agreement with scientific facts from such a powerful

religious leader.

His outspoken views on science aren’t the only things that make Pope Francis stand out.

For more on what makes this pope different from the others, check out this video from

our friends at Test Tube news.