More specifically, liberal Catholics. For those of you who were worried that Ratzinger's rise to the papacy would shove the Church to the right, this is a good sign.

THE Vatican has issued a stout defence of Charles Darwin, voicing strong criticism of Christian fundamentalists who reject his theory of evolution and interpret the biblical account of creation literally.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly.
His statement was a clear attack on creationist campaigners in the US, who see evolution and the Genesis account as mutually exclusive.

This is nothing new - Catholics have been teaching a separation of faith and science for years - but it's nice to hear it out loud. And for the record, American Catholics are actually really progressive.