Question: what is the church's belief in evolution? i had a debate with someone, and they believe in it and i don't. i say that we were formed from dust, and we didn't come from apes. but they say God could have formed the apes and then us, but i say humans and apes were made differently. who is right?

In regards to evolution, as Catholic Christians we must affirm the following things: (taken from Matthew Pinto's book: Did Adam and Eve Have Belly Buttons? (Copyright 1998, Ascension Press):

1. All things were created by a loving God
2. Man is made in the image of God, which means, among other things, that He is a spiritual being, with the powers of knowing and freely choosing
3. Even if man's body evolved, God still created man because God created the process of evolution and His providence guided it to give rise to the human race
4. Whatever the origin of man's bodily form, his soul is a special creation of God, not the result of an evolutionary process. This is because spirit, unlike matter, is incapable of evolving, since it has no parts to evolve from one thing to another
5. We all descended from one original set of parents
6. Our original parents were created in a state of happiness
7. Their disobedience was tested and they transgressed the divine law at the prompting of the devil
8. They lost the supernatural gifts given to the human race by God
9. They passed on original sin to all mankind
10. They were promised a redeemer

As long as we hold these Truths, then we can believe in the scientific theory of evolution. However, science has not proven that we have descended from apes. IF at some point it does, so be it--it still wouldn't change the need to believe in the previous ten statements of faith above.

Adam and Eve were created from dust, so in that sense, being our original parents, we too were created from dust in this symbolic way. Ultimately, we have to see if the person who believes in evolution is believing in it as a way to disprove God or His hand in creation as stated above, or if they are really trying to seek scientific Truth. If it is the latter, than we have nothing to debate, since the theory is still in process of being proven or disproven. If it is the former, then the debate is much more than about evolution.

As with all questions of faith we receive from friends, keep in constant prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the words (if any) to speak (see Jeremiah 1).