c. 2006 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a new director of the Vatican Observatory, replacing the Rev. George Coyne, a long-serving Jesuit astronomer and a vocal opponent of “intelligent design” theory.

It was unclear if the replacement of Coyne, the observatory’s director since 1978, reflected a sense of disapproval within the Vatican over his opposition to intelligent design _ the idea that the world is too complex to have been created by natural events alone.

Coyne has frequently attacked the theory as a “religious movement” lacking scientific merit. He could not be reached for comment.

There was no mention of Coyne in a brief statement released by the Vatican on Saturday (Aug. 19) announcing the appointment of the new director, the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, who is also a Jesuit.

The Argentine-born Funes, 43, holds a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Padua in Italy. He also studied theology at the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome.

In his new post, he will oversee the Vatican Astronomical Observatory, founded by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, and the observatory’s modern research center in Mount Graham, Ariz.

In his staunch defense of evolution, Coyne, 73, has frequently crossed swords with Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, a former protege and close adviser to Benedict whose support of intelligent design has been instrumental in introducing the theory into Catholic discourse.

The clash opened a divide between Vatican scientists who support Charles Darwin’s theory and prominent theologians who believe evolution has been exaggerated to mount ideological attacks to disprove the existence of a creator-God.

Although Benedict has referred to the “cosmos” as an “intelligent project,” he has yet to explicitly weigh in on the merits of intelligent design, a question that has generated an explosive debate in the United States.

In a November interview, Coyne suggested the pope should withhold judgment on the issue, adding that Benedict “doesn’t have the slightest idea of what intelligent design means in the U.S.”

In early September, Benedict will conduct a weekend seminar on the impact Darwin’s theory has on the church’s teaching of Creation. Schonborn, who has described evolution as “incompatible” with church teachings, will speak at the event, along with evolution advocate Peter Schuster, president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Other speakers at the event include the Rev. Paul Erbrich, emeritus professor of natural philosophy from the University of Munich, who has described evolution as a “fundamentally inadequate” explanation of the origins of life; and Robert Spaemann, a conservative German philosopher who has challenged “evolutionism,” or the philosophical applications of Darwin’s theory.

KRE/PH END MEICHTRY