One of the key announcements was that this past week the Vatican sponsored the Darwin anniversary conference
Posted March 3, 2009 20:26:00
Updated March 3, 2009 21:35:00
The Vatican is sponsoring a five-day conference to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species.
The subject is the compatibility of evolution and creation.
It is one of two separate international academic conferences being sponsored by the Vatican this year.
They aim to re-examine the work of scientific thinkers whose revolutionary ideas challenged religious belief.
Christian churches were long hostile to Darwin because his theory conflicted with the literal biblical account of creation.
But the Catholic Church never condemned him, with Pope John Paul II saying evolution was "more than a hypothesis".
- BBC
This is another link that will goes into detail about the Vatican embracing Darwinism:
Vatican buries the hatchet with Charles Darwin
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5705331.ece