Catholic stance on evolution; Presbyterian gay standards

Friday’s RNS report features a story by Frank Bentayou about the pope being asked to clarify the Catholic Church’s position on evolution: Case Western Reserve University physics professor Lawrence Krauss is weighing in on a dispute between two of the world’s most visible institutions, science and the Catholic Church. The question at hand: How did […]

Friday’s RNS report features a story by Frank Bentayou about the pope being asked to clarify the Catholic Church’s position on evolution: Case Western Reserve University physics professor Lawrence Krauss is weighing in on a dispute between two of the world’s most visible institutions, science and the Catholic Church. The question at hand: How did life on Earth come to be as it is? He and two other professors have asked the pope to clarify the church’s position on evolution and science, after seeing recent signs of change from an influential cardinal. Some scientists, including Krauss, think there’s hardly been so pressing a conflict between the two world forces since the 1600s, when the church brought its wrath down on Galileo for reporting that the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe.

Kevin Eckstrom reports that a special task force of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has recommended that a ban on actively gay clergy be maintained, but has determined that local churches should be free to skirt the law. The 20-member task force said the church can no longer survive annual skirmishes over the gay clergy ban and said it should be maintained for the “peace, unity and purity” of the church. But, in an attempt to give greater flexibility to local churches, the panel said regional bodies should be able to waive those rules for gay clergy if they are otherwise qualified.

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