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Just days after being sued, making national news as a result, a California school district agreed to stop teaching a “philosophy” course that critics said promoted creationism and intelligent design.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced January 17 that El Tejon Unified School District, located about 65 miles north of Los Angeles, has agreed to terminate a course called “Philosophy of Design” at its only high school, Frazier Mountain High in the town of Lebec.

The Vatican has moved to clarify its position in the intelligent-design debate, publishing an article in its newspaper that dismisses ID on scientific grounds and embraces a recent court ruling in Pennsylvania keeping the theory out of classrooms.

After months of mixed messages from Pope Benedict XVI and his aides, the Vatican directly addressed the issue in the January 17 edition of L’Osservatore Romano by reaffirming Catholic support for the science behind Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.