Galileo was born in 1564 and was an Italian Catholic working in physics,
mathematics and astronomy. In 1610, Galileo published his book Siderius
Nuncius in which he attempted to defend the ‘Copernican System.’
Copernicus had decades earlier proposed a heliocentric solar system with
the sun rather than the earth at its center. When still a student in Rome,
Copernicus defended his thesis with the approval of ecclesiastical
authorities. He even had permission to dedicate his book to Pope Paul III.
Copernicus later became a highly respected clergyman.
In 1616, Galileo drew attention from the Roman Inquisition. The opinion of
theological experts working for the Holy Office was that the heliocentric
view of the Solar System was dangerous and that the assertion of the
immobility of the sun was formally heretical, being at least apparently
inconsistent with Joshua 10:12-13 which infers the motion of the sun: “Sun,
stand thou still at Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Aijalon. And the
sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on
their enemies.” Galileo asserted that it was “a fatal and very common
mistake to stop always at the literal sense.” In this he was correct, but
where he erred was in his scientific proofs in support of the Copernican
system, which were demonstrably wrong and inadequate. The Church
authorities, in disagreeing with Galileo, found support in the works of other
scientists such as Clavius and Francis Bacon. In light of the opinion of
consulting theologians, the Pope directed Cardinal Bellarmine to convince
Galileo to cease holding and supporting the heliocentric system.
In 1632, Galileo was brought before the Inquisition again for publishing his
Dialogue on the Two Great World Systems. The 1616 theological opinions
were reiterated and Galileo was condemned as a heretic. Galileo again
renounced his views, the sale of his book was stopped and he was placed
under house arrest. It is patently untrue that he was ever tortured or placed
in prison. He was confined to the castle of a cardinal, one of the better
residences in Europe! The Pope at the time remained friendly towards him
and actually granted him a lifetime pension from 1632 and his blessing on
his deathbed in 1642.
Since neither the Pope nor any Church Congregation promulgated the
theological opinions of the Holy Office experts as official Church teaching,
the infallibility of the Pope or the Ordinary Magisterium cannot be
impugned. Neither should the Catholic Church be attacked for being
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