ABSTRACT
The message of John Paul II on evolution, received by the members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on 22 October 1996 during the Plenary Session of the Academy held in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, stirred a vast interest among both scientists and the wider public. The message on evolution is in continuity with the partner-in-dialogue posture. In order to set the stage for dialogue the message distinguishes in traditional terms the various ways of knowing. The correct interpretation of observed, empirical, scientific data accumulated to date leads to a theory of evolution which is no longer a mere hypothesis among other hypotheses. But since philosophy and theology, in addition to the scientific analysis of the empirical facts, enter into the formulation of a theory, we do better to speak of several theories. And some of those theories are incompatible with revealed, religious truth.
