Expert: Sal - 11/11/2010

Question
Hi Sal,

What does the Catholic Church teaching regarding evolution?  I've never found the theory convincing.  There's no evidence to show that one species evolved from another or that advanced forms of life advanced from simpler forms.  Of course I don't dispute that changes occur within a species.  Wasn't Charles Darwin an atheist?

Doesn't language prove the existence of God?  Without God, surely we'd have more languages in the world and they would be less similar to one another.

Finally, I want to ask about hell.  It's entirely possible that friends, colleagues, acquaintances and maybe even members of our family could end up in hell.  If we ended up in heaven, wouldn't it make us sad to know that people we had known on earth were in hell?  

Answer
Hello Les:

A Catholic may believe in evolution if God is in the equation. In other words, evolution must have been started and guided by God.

Darwin considered himself an agnostic not an atheist.

Your language theory is interesting.

I don't know how we will feel about the lost souls or even if we will know.

Nice to hear from you, Les.

Your Friend in Christ,
Sal