Reflections of a stormy petrel

That sounds like complete nonsense. It certainly is not the case among anti-abortionists in Italy and Britain. If you want the name of a prominent Catholic writer who is also a sworn enemy of what he calls "counterknowledge", Damian Thompson is one. Here are his blogs: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/damian_thompson, about religion, and http://www.counterknowledge.com/, against "counterknowledge" - which I call superstition. I find his ritualism annoying, but there can be no doubt that he is on the right side. Another conservative writer, though I think not Catholic, who is also a sworn opponent of superstition, is Charles Johnson of LIttlegreenfootballs. I mention these names so you do not have to feel quite alone in your position. As for the Papal pronouncements on evolution, the most important is Pope John Paul's 1996 speech to the Pontifical Academy of Science. It is available on the Internet in English in various places (the original speeck was given in French), of which this is one: http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02tc.htm. This is a pronouncement of considerable weight: it is not exactly magisterial, not being given in an Encyclical, but it is the next best thing, and it is a very serious matter for a Catholic to reject it. At the very least, they ought to have extremely good reasons; and we should remember that Catholics are not allowed to raise their own reading of the Bible against the Pope or Holy Tradition, which might be expected to know more about it.