Yesterday we saw that, despite his sincere faith that his
theory of tidal motion proved heliocentricism, Galileo’s proof was seriously
flawed. Heliocentric theory was not, in
fact, actually proved until the nineteenth century — regardless of the fact
that many people accepted it for centuries before that . . . on faith, not
because it was proved.
 |
| Copernicus: "Galileo was a copycat." |
We also learned that, had Galileo been content to present
his theory as just that, a theory, he would probably have gotten into no more
trouble than Copernicus did before him.
Had he just been content to stop there. . . .
Unfortunately, Galileo didn’t stop there. He declared that the interpretation of
certain passages in the Bible would have to be changed from literal to
allegorical or metaphorical to conform to his theory.
Again, the Catholic Church had no problem. It claims to base even matters of faith on
reason, or at least that faith cannot contradict reason. If Galileo could prove his theory to the
satisfaction of other scientists, the Catholic Church would change the
interpretation of certain passages of Scripture.
 |
| Cardinal Baronius |
There were, however, warnings that, perhaps, Galileo might
be getting out of his depth when he started pontificating (so to speak) on
theological matters in addition to astronomy. Galileo’s good friend, Venerable Cæsar
Cardinal Baronius (1538-1607), reminded Galileo that, “the Bible teaches us how
to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.”
Galileo ignored this advice, even after Baronius repeated it
— hey, it was a clever quip. He then
presented his theory in a way that insulted the pope and claimed it was a scientifically proved fact — and therefore the
Catholic Church was required by its own principles to change the interpretation
of certain passages of scripture.
That put the fat
in the fire, and brought the Roman Inquisition (not to be confused with the
Spanish Inquisition, which nobody expected — nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition) into the picture. They assembled a board of reputable
scientists and began examining Galileo’s claims.
Not surprisingly, in light of the flawed nature of Galileo’s
presumed proofs based on tidal motion, the scientists reported that they were
not convinced of the validity of his theory.
Galileo’s theory might be
correct — and some of them, who accepted the work of Copernicus, believed that
was, in fact, the case — but Galileo’s proofs did not meet the requirements of
rigorous scientific inquiry, and had to be rejected. There was, therefore, no valid scientific
basis for changing the interpretation of certain passages of Scripture.
 |
| Cardinal Bellarmine |
Then there was the issue of Galileo’s meddling in theology
and his insulting behavior to the pope.
There Galileo got lucky. In
addition to having a powerful friend in Cardinal Baronius, he had an even more
powerful friend in St. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J. (1542-1621), whom the
Catholic Church today honors as a “Doctor of the Church” for his outstanding
intellect and achievements, notably in his developments of democratic political
theory to combat “Divine Right” theory.
Bellarmine went to bat for Galileo and got him off with a
warning not to meddle in theology, at least as it related to the heliocentric
theory. The case was closed and the
documents filed away.
Some years later, however, after Bellarmine’s death, Galileo
commented on his theory in a way that could be interpreted as violating the
terms of his agreement. Unfortunately,
with Bellarmine not there to defend or protect him, the authorities were not
inclined to cut Galileo any slack. He
was summoned again before the Roman Inquisition, charged, basically, with
violating his parole, and condemned to house arrest in Florence with the
obligation of reciting the Seven Penitential Psalms once a day.
This sounds pretty bad, but as the late Paul Harvey used to
say, you have to hear the rest of the story.
·
Florence and the Vatican were not exactly on the
best of terms. Galileo’s fellow
citizens, in fact, were always suggesting that Galileo should tell the pope and
the Roman Inquisition just where they could stick it, and ignore the house
arrest. Galileo, in fact, could have
ended his “incarceration” any time he wanted, and everybody in the city would
have cheered him on. (Maybe Galileo was
hesitant to follow their advice, knowing how the Firenzans tended to go a
little overboard in religious and political matters, as they had when
Savonarola preached a century before Galileo.)
·
The Seven Penitential Psalms take about five
minutes to recite . . . and even then, Galileo was given permission to have his
daughter, a professed nun, recite them on his behalf.
·
Foreign rulers kept issuing invitations to
Galileo to seek sanctuary with them from the pope’s tyranny. The king of the French was perhaps the most
insistent. Everybody wanted the greatest
scientist of the day as a court ornament and political prize. Galileo refused every offer.
The fact is, Galileo rather approved of his own house arrest,
or at least went along with it voluntarily.
It allowed him to get a lot of work done that he didn’t have time for
previously. He complained, of course,
but pretty much everybody knew it was a mere formality. Galileo could have walked out the door a free
man any time he wanted, thumbing his nose at the pope and the Roman
Inquisition.
Did the Catholic Church make a mistake condemning
Galileo? Was Galileo a martyr for
science . . . even bad science, or just being pigheaded? You can decide that for yourself.
#30#