1. Pope John Paul II begins his message to the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences by calling to memory all the members of the Academy who had died in the prior year, saying: "I entrust them to the Maker of life."  This comment was undoubtedly meant, purely and simply, as a blessing on those who had died.  But does it serve another purpose as well?  In other words, is there a certain fittingness in beginning a message to scientists – perhaps most especially a message on the subject of evolution – with an explicit mention of death? 

2. As Pope John Paul II relates in this address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, what did Pope Pius XI request of the Academy when he founded it in 1936 (sixty years earlier)? 

3. As related by Pope John Paul II, what was Pope Pius XII's teaching on evolution in his 1950 encyclical Humani Generis? 

4. What warning does Pope John II set forth in this message (that is, he repeats a constant teaching) concerning the interpretation of Scripture? 

5. As Pope John Paul II points out, Pius XII in Humani Generis treated the doctrine of "evolutionism" as a serious hypothesis.  How does Pope John Paul II treat it? 

6. Describe Pope John Paul II's answer to the question: "What is the significance of a theory such as this one?"  That is to say, what is the Pope's description of the epistemological status of this – or any – "theory"?  (By the way, is the Pope's discussion of the epistemological status of theories infallible?  When he mentions something like this -- in passing, in a "message" or "address," does it necessarily thereby become part of the unchanging "doctrine" of the Church?) 

7. The Pope goes on to say: "Moreover, the elaboration of a theory such as that of evolution, while obedient to the need for consistency with the observed data, must also involve importing some ideas from the philosophy of nature."  Thus John Paul suggests that, rather than speaking about the theory of evolution, it is more accurate to speak of the theories of evolution [emphasis mine].  Please explain what he means.  And then please explain why, according to the Pope, "the final judgment is within the competence of philosophy and, beyond that, of theology"? 

8. Why, according to John Paul II, does the magisterium of the Church take a direct interest in the question of evolution?  Why can't it just leave well enough alone? 

9. What is the problem, from the Pope's point-of-view, with certain theories of evolution (note that I did not say, with the theory of evolution per se)?