The time has come to realise that an interpretation of the universe—even a positivist one—remains unsatisfying unless it covers the interior as well as the exterior of things; mind as well as matter. The true physics is that which will, one day, achieve the inclusion of man in his wholeness in a coherent picture of the world.

The Holy See clarified that those statements by members of the Church in particular those made on the hundredth anniversary of Teilhard's birth were not to be interpreted as a revision of previous stands taken by the Church officials.

Teilhard's position was opposed by his Church superiors and some of his work was denied publication during his lifetime by the Roman Holy Office. This displeased certain officials in the Roman Curia and in his own order who thought that it undermined the doctrine of original sin developed by Saint Augustine. More recently Pope John Paul II indicated a positive attitude towards some of Teilhard's ideas.