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  Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, told reporters at the National Press Club last week Catholics can believe in evolution, just as long as God's involvement is acknowledged. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Catholics can believe in evolution just as long as God’s involvement is acknowledged, according to some top Catholic leaders.

Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, told reporters at the National Press Club last week a contemporary Catholic "need not say that creationism is the only answer -- that in six days or seven days, God made the world," according to the Associated Press.

Creationism is the literal, biblical account of God creating man and the universe in six days.

McCarrick said this concept of "theistic evolution" – agreeing with Darwin's evolutionary theory, given that one accepts God’s guidance in the process -- was the view of the late Pope John Paul II.

Critics, however, warned that such views on the origins of man undermine biblical authority.

Ken Ham, a leading advocate of creationism and President of Answers in Genesis (AIG), says Catholics need to “think through the consequences of such view,” reported Crosswalk.

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"The issue about believing in millions of years and evolution undermines biblical authority," said Ham. "That's the real issue -- using man's fallible ideas to say the Bible is not the absolute authority. And that's the problem with much of the Church, and the problem you find in the Catholic Church, where the Bible is really not the ultimate authority.”

Still, McCarrick says Catholics don’t have to believe in what he considers "the beautiful story of Genesis” literally.

Said McCarrick: "As long as in every understanding of evolution, the hand of God is recognized as being present, we can accept that."