You might want to become a fan of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
He was a Roman Catholic Jesuit who worked in China as a paleontologist
finding evidence for early humans.
He tried his best to combine his scientific knowledge with his religious
beliefs and came up with the idea that life on Earth is evolving towards
a consciousness of which humans are the first true signs.
Of course the Church didn't like his ideas, but he had a very popular
underground following and many of his ideas have manifested themselves
in the Singularity and such.
Read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin