What is the Catholic Church's position on the scientific theory of evolution? Understanding the scientific [Biological] theory of evolution simply as descent [from a common ancestor] with modification through Darwin's proposed mechanism of natural selection, starting from the time Darwin published the Origin of Species in 1859, what is the Catholic Church's position on the scientific theory of evolution as expressed through papal magisterium?

What is/is not acceptable for a Catholic as regards this theory?

What are the proscribed limits set forth by the papal magisterium?

From the papal teaching, why is the theory of evolution of interest to the Church?



Science as understood in


  Science is a particular way of knowing about the world. In science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists. Science is not the only way of acquiring knowledge about ourselves and
  the world around us. Humans gain understanding in many other ways,
  such as through literature, the arts, philosophical reflection, and
  religious experience. Scientific knowledge may enrich aesthetic and
  moral perceptions, but these subjects extend beyond science's realm,
  which is to obtain a better understanding of the natural world.
  Explanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not part
  of science. - Source: 1999 report "Science and Creationism: A View
  from the National Academy of Sciences, Second Edition"




Please note that this question is not asking about Theistic Evolution, a non-scientific theory.
A quick Google search provides a link indicating there is (perhaps intentionally) no official authoritative declaration on the subject, leaving "no burden upon conscience".

To quote,


  [The advantage of Catholics] lies in the simple fact that they do not have to decide either for Evolution or against it.  Authority has not spoken on the subject; hence it puts no burden upon conscience, and may be discussed realistically and without prejudice.  A certain wariness, of course, is necessary.  I say that authority has not spoken; it may, however, speak tomorrow, and so the prudent man remembers his step.  But in the meanwhile there is nothing to prevent him examining all available facts, and even offering arguments in support of them or against them—so long as those arguments are not presented as dogma.  (STJ, 163) 


And, again, referencing Pope Pius in the 1950s, 


  In other words, the Pope could live with evolution, so long as the process of “ensouling” humans was left to God.  (He also insisted on a role for Adam, whom he believed committed a sin— mysteriously passed along through the “doctrine of original sin”—that has affected all subsequent generations.) Pius XII cautioned, however, that he considered the jury still out on the question of evolution’s validity.  It should not be accepted, without more evidence, “as though it were a certain proven doctrine.”  (ROA, 81)