At an event at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Monday, Pope Francis said evolution is real and not incompatible with Christianity.
When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so...
The 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. Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve. [Pope Francis via The Independent]
As Adam Withnall at The Independent observes, Pope Francis' comments are a move away from Pope Benedict XVI, who reportedly encouraged theories of intelligent design, and a return to the ideas of Pope John Paul II and Pope Pius XII, who were more welcoming of evolution.