Great Minds Meet at Science Conference in Rome

"In order to develop and evolve, the world must first be, and thus have come from nothing into being. It must be created," the Pope said.

ROME (The Catholic Herald, UK) - Pope Benedict XVI met Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking last week at a Vatican conference on evolution which brought together some of the world's leading theologians and scientists.

Both the Pope and the world-renowned cosmologist were star speakers at the five-day conference, which was organised by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Benedict XVI said in his address that there was no conflict between faith's understanding of creation and the evidence of science.

"In order to develop and evolve, the world must first be, and thus have come from nothing into being. It must be created," the Pope said.

But God's work in creating matter and life out of nothing did not end there, he said. The Creator founded the cosmos and its developments and "supports them, underpins them and sustains them continually".

Benedict XVI said that creation was not just the starting point of life but "the foundational and continuing relationship that links the creature to the Creator, for he is the cause of every being and all becoming".

The Church teaches "every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not produced by the parents - and also that it is immortal," he said, quoting the Catechism. Benedict argued that science has helped deepen the Church's understanding that humanity has a unique and distinctive place in the cosmos. Only the person, a spiritual being, has a hunger and capacity for God, he said.

He said the evolution of life and the world "resembles an ordered book". Looking at nature as a book that can be read is an image that has its roots in Christianity, he said, adding that "Galileo saw nature as a book whose author is God".

Dr Hawking is a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Science. He was appointed in 1986 by Pope John Paul II.

The Pontifical Academy was founded in 1936 by Pope Pius XI.