The Catholic Church has had a reputation for being anti-science. However, Pope Francis’ comments were in line with the progressive work of Pope Pius XII, who actively welcomed the big bang theory and opened a conversation on evolution.

In 1996, John Paul II went further and suggested evolution was “more than a hypothesis” and “effectively proven fact”.

Yet more recently, Benedict XVI and his close advisors apparently endorsed “intelligent design” underpinning evolution – the idea that natural selection by itself is insufficient to explain the world’s complexity.

Giovanni Bignami, president of Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics, told the Italian news agency Adnkronos, “The pope’s statement is significant. We are the direct descendants from the big bang that created the universe. Evolution came from creation.”