https://www.kolbecenter.org/the-traditional-catholic-doctrine-of-creation/Magisterial Teaching on Creation
Both the Council of Trent and Vatican Council I taught that no one is permitted to interpret Sacred Scripture “contrary to the unanimous agreement of the Fathers.”[1] In the words of Fr. Victor Warkulwiz:
The Fathers and Doctors of the Church unanimously agreed that Genesis 1-11 is an inerrant literal historical account of the beginning of the world and the human species as related by the prophet Moses under divine inspiration. This does not mean that they agreed on every point in its interpretation, but their differences were accidental and not essential. Pope Leo XIII, following St. Augustine, affirmed the Catholic rule for interpreting Sacred Scripture, “not to depart from the literal and obvious sense, except only where reason makes it untenable or necessity requires.”
For the first five centuries of the Church, all of the Fathers believed and proclaimed:
that less than 6,000 years had passed from the creation of the world to the birth of Jesus.
that the creation of the cosmos took place in six 24 hour days or in an instant of time
that God created the different kinds of living things instantly and immediately
that Adam was created from the dust of the earth and Eve from his side
that God ceased to create new kinds of creatures after the creation of Adam
that the Original Sin of Adam shattered the perfect harmony of the first-created world and brought human death, deformity, and disease into the world.
