Not surprising, that as a former teacher the Pope would recognize ID for what it is.
No, he does not claim special competence in the field. This is not inconsistent with Catholic atitudes since 1859. Not until the problem of modernism in religion came up and scholars began to treat the Scriptures as myth did the papacy say anything about the matter. Newman had no problem with Darwin, so long as he was discussing evidence. It was no such much Darwin as Darwinism that is the rub.