Humans, chimps and God

There's all this debate about "intelligent design" and evolution. But for the past century the Catholic Church has taught that what distinguishes humans from other living creatures is the presence of a "soul," which is created by God.

Don't believe me? Read this:

Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under God’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared that "the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36). So whether the human body was specially created or developed, we are required to hold as a matter of Catholic faith that the human soul is specially created; it did not evolve, and it is not inherited from our parents, as our bodies are.

-- Talken from Catholic.com

Why am I bringing this up? A new study suggested that humans' closest genetic relatives lack sympathy for their fellow species. Chimpanzees are full of empathy. What does this mean? It means that even with 99 percent of the genetic information the same, the soul, or whatever people might call it, is unique among humans.