Do Catholics Believe in Evolution?

The Catholic Church does not forbid research into whether the human body came from living matter, and it requires that souls are immediately created by God. Pius XII’s encyclical Humani Generis also says the faithful cannot hold that true men after Adam did not come from him, or that Adam stands for many first parents. This page quotes those texts and Genesis. It does not decide the scientific question. Other churches are on Evolution and Creation.

Key Points

• Humani Generis 36 (1) says the Teaching Authority does not forbid research on evolution “in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter,” because “souls are immediately created by God.”
• The same paragraph says some “rashly transgress” that liberty when they treat the body’s origin from living matter as “already completely certain.”
• Humani Generis 37 (1) says the faithful cannot embrace polygenism: either true men after Adam who did not come from him, or Adam as “a certain number of first parents.” Original sin, it says, proceeds from “a sin actually committed by an individual Adam.”
• Catechism 283 (2) says scientific studies of the age of the cosmos, the development of life-forms, and the appearance of man invite “even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator.”
• Catechism 366 (3) says every spiritual soul “is created immediately by God” and “is not produced by the parents.”
• Genesis 1:27Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says God created man in his own image. Genesis 2:7Genesis 2:7 · King James VersionAnd the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.Genesis 2:7 · King James VersionOpen source (6) says the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground.

What Humani Generis Says

Humani Generis (1), 12 August 1950, paragraph 36:

For these reasons the Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.

The paragraph requires the reasons for and against evolution to be weighed “with the necessary seriousness, moderation and measure,” and that all are prepared to submit to the judgment of the Church. Then: some “rashly transgress this liberty of discussion, when they act as if the origin of the human body from pre-existing and living matter were already completely certain and proved by the facts which have been discovered up to now.”

The encyclical uses both “pre-existent” and, in that later sentence, “pre-existing.” The permission is research into the body. The obligation is that souls are immediately created by God. A sentence that names apes was not in the paragraphs fetched here.

Paragraph 37 is about a different opinion, polygenism:

When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents.

The reason it gives is original sin, “which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which, through generation, is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own.” The encyclical does not say the body’s origin from living matter is already a doctrine. It says polygenism is not free for the faithful.

What the Catechism Says

Catechism 283 (2):

The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers.

Catechism 366 (3): “The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God — it is not produced by the parents — and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.”

Evolution and Creation quotes Catechism 283 beside the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, which teaches a six-day creation and that Adam and Eve were the first two people. That page does not pick a side. A sentence of this encyclical on the Big Bang was not in the paragraphs fetched here.

What the Bible Says

Genesis 1:1Genesis 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.Genesis 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source (4): “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Genesis 1:27Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionOpen source (5): “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Genesis 2:7Genesis 2:7 · King James VersionAnd the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.Genesis 2:7 · King James VersionOpen source (6): “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Genesis 1 is the creation of heaven, earth, and man in God’s image. Genesis 2:7 is man formed of dust, and breath, and a living soul. The verses do not use the word evolution. Humani Generis reads the soul as immediately created by God and leaves the body’s origin from living matter as a research question under the Church’s judgment. Readers who take the days and the dust as a bar to that research are setting the narrative beside paragraph 36. This page does not decide that reading. Who Wrote Genesis in the Bible?

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Catholics Believe Humans Came From Apes?

The paragraphs fetched from Humani Generis do not name apes. They allow research into the human body “as coming from pre-existent and living matter,” and they say that origin is not to be treated as already completely certain. They oblige Catholics to hold that souls are immediately created by God.

What Did the Pope Say About Evolution?

Pius XII, in Humani Generis 36 (1), said the Teaching Authority does not forbid that research, within the limit of the soul’s immediate creation, and with moderation. A later papal address on this question was not fetched for this page.

Do Catholics Believe in Adam and Eve?

Humani Generis 37 (1) says the faithful cannot hold that Adam represents a number of first parents, or that true men after him did not come from him. It ties that to original sin committed by “an individual Adam.” Genesis 2:7Genesis 2:7 · King James VersionAnd the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.Genesis 2:7 · King James VersionOpen source (6) is the forming of the man. Genesis 1:27Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionOpen source (5) is male and female in God’s image.

When Did the Catholic Church Accept Evolution?

Humani Generis (1) is dated 12 August 1950. It does not say the Church accepted evolution as a doctrine. It says research is not forbidden, and that some people treat the conclusion as more certain than the encyclical allows. Catechism 283 (2) treats the scientific studies as enriching knowledge of the Creator’s work.

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