"...so far it looks rather self-referential to me,"

It **is** basically self-referential... "The Bible says 'X'...I grew up believing the Bible, so I believe 'X', and no one can show me any 'proof' that 'X' is false, so my belief is as valid as your science.." --some version of that. And, it is the case that no one CAN 'prove' it false....all we can do is appeal to the intellect to recognize the circular reasoning and make the effort to integrate religious beliefs with scientific evidence...like the Pope just did. I have my issues with the Catholic church, but they are slowly responding to modern times better than many Protestant groups.