Let me explain the position some Conservative Catholic Christian Theologians - Old-Earthers - take on Evolution. Firstly, on so-called "Chemical Evolution" or Abiogenesis, there is no reason to believe it happened by pure chance. At the very least, the process was guided by a Loving God as an Intelligent Designer, not by Blind Forces of Nature acting purposelessly. Next, it's certainly possible, once species began to form, many members of the Animal Kingdom are more closely related - i.e. "evolved" from one another - than earlier thought. That's not a problem at all. But finally, we come to the core issue, Alleged Ape-Human Evolution, the idea that apes and modern humans have a common alleged ape-like ancestor, which we'll call AHE. If Atheists believe AHE allegedly happened, let alone multiple times, that a population bottleneck of some 10,000 or whatever that they talk about of their ape-man common ancestor that they speculate about later diverged into both apes and men, they should produce incontrovertible evidence of it. That we have fossils of apes and fossils of humans does not prove conclusively that there were some alleged intermediate ape-men.
See this from the BBC: 'All bets now off' on which ape was humanity's ancestor" https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49486980
Catholic Christians are open to the possibility that Evolution took place, but the matter needs to be conclusively proven scientifically beyond all doubt. As God intervened in being the First Cause of the Universe, and in the first creation of intelligent life from non-life, and in the death of Christ to raise Him from the dead - though He doesn't in every death - it's reasonable to hold God intervened in the Special Creation of the First Couple, unless there is some absolutely solid reason to think otherwise. Now, I freely concede I'm not an evolutionary biologist, so I might be mistaken about this, but there are many solid evolutionary biologists, who are Christians, and hold to something similar along those lines.
1. In Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII explains the position of the Catholic Church on Evolution: Openness if there is conclusive proof, but cautious skepticism otherwise: "5. If anyone examines the state of affairs outside the Christian fold, he will easily discover the principle trends that not a few learned men are following. Some imprudently and indiscreetly hold that evolution, which has not been fully proved even in the domain of natural sciences, explains the origin of all things, and audaciously support the monistic and pantheistic opinion that the world is in continual evolution. Communists gladly subscribe to this opinion so that, when the souls of men have been deprived of every idea of a personal God, they may the more efficaciously defend and propagate their dialectical materialism." https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/...neris.html
2. On Communists promoting Evolution, see this also: "In 1947, Bishop O’Gara was imprisoned by the Chinese Communists and wrote from his prison cell regarding the Marxist indoctrination of his flock. A number of them were “hopeless” to the new regime and were executed. Those considered “salvageable” had to attend a week-long class as the new “People’s Republic” was born. His letter described the retraining classes. He does not refer to Marxist philosophy, redistribution of wealth, or even basic socialist principles, but rather Darwinian evolution. This was what was considered the first vital step towards a cooperative communist populace. Eliminate God the Creator, eliminate original sin, replace God with the State." http://archives.sspx.org/against_sound_b...lution.htm
3. Finally, from a Christian perspective, there is a special reason to be cautious and skeptical at least about Ape-Human Evolution or AHE, because those who hate Christianity use it as a polemical weapon to attack the Faith. In a 1930 Book by William A Williams where he successfully exposed the "Piltdown Man Hoax" that was commonly accepted at the time, but universally acknowledged to be a Hoax only after 1953 (see next point), the author wrote: "Other evolutionists openly announce their antagonism to the Bible and Christianity. Clarence Darrow, in the Tenn. trial, called Christianity a “fool religion." ... We were not surprised to learn that, in the Tenn. trial, evolution was defended by agnostics, who made their chief attack on the Bible and revealed religion; and the school, the home and religion were defended by men of high Christian character. Had Mr. Darrow as earnestly defended Christianity and Mr. Bryan as earnestly opposed it, millions would have held up their hands in astonishment. But the alignment was natural, and opened the eyes of multitudes to the fact that evolution is a friend to infidelity and a foe to Christianity. Their objection to prayer during the sessions of the Court shows that they hated what God loves." From: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/850...mages.html
4. Here is Wiki on the Piltdown Hoax, which Williams was certainly extremely prescient about several decades later: "The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although there were doubts about its authenticity virtually from the beginning (in 1912), the remains were still broadly accepted for many years, and the falsity of the hoax was only definitively demonstrated in 1953." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man There are powerful forces in this world who want you to believe you're a son of monkey rather than a son or daughter of God. They are the ones behind the Piltdown Man Evolutionist Hoax, now universally acknowledged as one. It's what the Bolshevik Communists did in the Russia, while others did it in the West.
See this from the BBC: 'All bets now off' on which ape was humanity's ancestor" https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49486980
Catholic Christians are open to the possibility that Evolution took place, but the matter needs to be conclusively proven scientifically beyond all doubt. As God intervened in being the First Cause of the Universe, and in the first creation of intelligent life from non-life, and in the death of Christ to raise Him from the dead - though He doesn't in every death - it's reasonable to hold God intervened in the Special Creation of the First Couple, unless there is some absolutely solid reason to think otherwise. Now, I freely concede I'm not an evolutionary biologist, so I might be mistaken about this, but there are many solid evolutionary biologists, who are Christians, and hold to something similar along those lines.
1. In Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII explains the position of the Catholic Church on Evolution: Openness if there is conclusive proof, but cautious skepticism otherwise: "5. If anyone examines the state of affairs outside the Christian fold, he will easily discover the principle trends that not a few learned men are following. Some imprudently and indiscreetly hold that evolution, which has not been fully proved even in the domain of natural sciences, explains the origin of all things, and audaciously support the monistic and pantheistic opinion that the world is in continual evolution. Communists gladly subscribe to this opinion so that, when the souls of men have been deprived of every idea of a personal God, they may the more efficaciously defend and propagate their dialectical materialism." https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/...neris.html
2. On Communists promoting Evolution, see this also: "In 1947, Bishop O’Gara was imprisoned by the Chinese Communists and wrote from his prison cell regarding the Marxist indoctrination of his flock. A number of them were “hopeless” to the new regime and were executed. Those considered “salvageable” had to attend a week-long class as the new “People’s Republic” was born. His letter described the retraining classes. He does not refer to Marxist philosophy, redistribution of wealth, or even basic socialist principles, but rather Darwinian evolution. This was what was considered the first vital step towards a cooperative communist populace. Eliminate God the Creator, eliminate original sin, replace God with the State." http://archives.sspx.org/against_sound_b...lution.htm
3. Finally, from a Christian perspective, there is a special reason to be cautious and skeptical at least about Ape-Human Evolution or AHE, because those who hate Christianity use it as a polemical weapon to attack the Faith. In a 1930 Book by William A Williams where he successfully exposed the "Piltdown Man Hoax" that was commonly accepted at the time, but universally acknowledged to be a Hoax only after 1953 (see next point), the author wrote: "Other evolutionists openly announce their antagonism to the Bible and Christianity. Clarence Darrow, in the Tenn. trial, called Christianity a “fool religion." ... We were not surprised to learn that, in the Tenn. trial, evolution was defended by agnostics, who made their chief attack on the Bible and revealed religion; and the school, the home and religion were defended by men of high Christian character. Had Mr. Darrow as earnestly defended Christianity and Mr. Bryan as earnestly opposed it, millions would have held up their hands in astonishment. But the alignment was natural, and opened the eyes of multitudes to the fact that evolution is a friend to infidelity and a foe to Christianity. Their objection to prayer during the sessions of the Court shows that they hated what God loves." From: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/850...mages.html
4. Here is Wiki on the Piltdown Hoax, which Williams was certainly extremely prescient about several decades later: "The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although there were doubts about its authenticity virtually from the beginning (in 1912), the remains were still broadly accepted for many years, and the falsity of the hoax was only definitively demonstrated in 1953." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man There are powerful forces in this world who want you to believe you're a son of monkey rather than a son or daughter of God. They are the ones behind the Piltdown Man Evolutionist Hoax, now universally acknowledged as one. It's what the Bolshevik Communists did in the Russia, while others did it in the West.