Vatican puts Galileo on a pedestal
Has a devil put aside for me
IT'S BEEN FOUR hundred years since the Vatican put Galileo on trial as a heretic for his ideas about heliocentrism, the Copernican doctrine that the Earth revolves around the Sun, but now it would like to say sorry.
The apology will take the form of a statue, aptly placed in the Vatican gardens, outside the apartment where the astronomer was put up while he awaiting his heresy trial in 1633. Private donors will shell out the money for the statue, as a tribute to Galileo from the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Nicla Cabibbo, the president of the Academy, explained: "The Church wants to close the Galileo affair and reach a definitive understanding not only of his great legacy but also of the relationship between science and faith."
The Vatican's timing is also significant, as celebrations begin all over Italy today in the prequel to next year's 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope.
Giorgio Ierano, a cultural historian, told the Times Online: "The wrong done to Galileo is being put right on the territory of his historic enemies. Wherever Galileo is in the afterlife, he must be enjoying this moment. "
That's if the heretic Galileo believed in an afterlife that is. µ
L'Inq
Timesonline
Comments
Expediency
Google for:Galileo pope protest university
and you'll see why the Vatican is 'honouring' Galileo. It's simply that the current pope was told to sod off when he wanted to give a speech at La Sapienza university in Rome in January this year. There were protests, banners an dissent from academics. Why? Because Pope Benedict XVI gave a speech in 1990 stating that he "condones the 1633 trial and conviction of the scientist Galileo for heresy".
Now, could the 'infallible' pope have been wrong? Is he going to recant? Should he be made to recant? As a former head of the Inquisition he will know where the instruments of torture are to be found. I suppose the next step, following precedence, is to show him said instruments.
Funny old world, innit.
Holes
Bizarre religious arse faces. Best thing this country ever did was turn protestant - and therefore eventually atheist. Thank you, Henry.AT adds: We were saved by a vacuum cleaner?
Guys... really?
Gallileo not believing in the afterlife? You've gotta be kidding!Jim, did you actually take the time to read the Pope's address? Not a CNN news article but the actual speech? Also, you create nice easy straw man in your remarks about papal infallibility.
Hypocrites!
They're all hypocrites! Why would the roman catholics now, after 400 years, apologize? It's been over a 100 years since Galileo was proven correct, there are doing this for public appeal, to relieve some of the hatred for there actions of persecuting those who went against the norm and were correct.AT adds: Maybe they're 400 years behind the times.
Put Galileo behind us?
Damned right. We need to concentrate on discrediting Darwin. Got no time for Franklin and his blasphemous lightning rods, or Jenner and his vaccines.confused.
And there I was thinking this was an article about the european GPS efforts.Look at my left hand so you won´t see my right
This changes nothing, absolutely nothing. It diverts attention from the fact that the church can be seriously vindictive. What´s more important: that you´re being treated fairly when it MATTERS or that they erect a stupid statue centuries after you´re dead?Apparently it´s OK to be wronged if they apologise 400 years too late... that´s what this act of superficial hypocrisy says.
To HELL with the pope
Very good
This will give the pope more time to concentrate on the use of condoms, birth control, onan and other verboten things.Condamnation of Galileo
Condamnation of Galileo.In 1633, Galileo was condemned by the Church for biblical and scientific reasons. Subsequently, science gradually proved that Galileo’s theory was correct.
I reconsidered the ultimate phase of the trial of the astronomer: the contradiction of his new thesis with regard to the biblical verses sustained by the Church.
In my French book “Entre Galilée et l’Église : la Bible” (Between Galileo and the Church, the Bible…) I analyse the conflicting verses. And I demonstrate, through a comprehensive semantic study, that in the Hebrew and Greek Texts, the sun does not turn around the Earth, contrary to what the versions assert. I conclude that if the translations of the Bible had been faithful to the original Texts, Galileo would not have been condemned for “having held and believed a doctrine which is false and contrary to the divine and Holy Scripture.”
As a result of this study, I clarify the many debates held through the centuries and endeavour to align the translations of the Bible with their original Texts and to officially rehabilitate Galileo.
Joël Col