The Attitude Of The Catholic Church To Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei was a clever scientist who revolutionised the science world that we know today. He mainly focused on astronomy and physics, specifically regarding the solar system and the stars. Galileo is famous for objecting the concept of geocentrism that was accepted during his time. Instead, he abided by Copernicus’ theory which was the concept of a heliocentric system where the Earth revolves around the sun. However, this did not agree well with the Catholic Church, who opposed Galileo’s theories and this followed with complications.

During the spring of 1611, Galileo was known across the board. However, he was not completely satisfied with the effect his work was having on bringing change to the Catholic Church. He decided it was necessary to visit the center of Roman Catholic power in Rome, to demonstrate his scientific findings and to receive acknowledgement for his work. He aimed to convince these doubtful leaders, including the Pope and this would hopefully result in a change to the Catholic Church’s perspective on several of it’s doctrines that contradicted his scientific discoveries. His visit was successful initially and he was well accepted in Rome. One cardinal even suggested to Cosimo de’ Medici that “a statue should be erected to him on the Capitol to honor his excellence and valor. ” Galileo met with some of the city’s most powerful and leading church leaders, among them being Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, who was the papal secretary of Rome. Galileo acquired an audience with Pope Paul V, which was an honour as the pope didn’t grant many people this. However, although he received praise and success at first, the Catholic Church began to realise that his theories and discoveries could have a serious impact on the trust in the Catholic Church. They began to wonder if their followers would suspect that the Catholic Church is full of lies and that they were feeding them false information. So the pope decided to take matters into his own hands. He sent over news about Galileo to the Holy office in which they issued a condemnation of Galileo’s theory. This meant that Galileo was forbidden from holding or defending his belief. In response to this, Galileo challenged the Catholic Church by publishing his book Dialogue which supported his belief and enforced his views that opposed the Catholic Church. Galileo was ordered to be involved in a trial by chief inquisitor Father Vincenzo, about the belief of Earth revolving around the Sun which was “deemed heretical” by the Catholic Church. Since Galileo’s belief contradicted what was written in scripture, it could not be disputed. Galileo was ordered to not teach heresy anymore, be under house arrest for the rest of his life and to prohibit his book.

Galileo was treated unjustifiably because all he did was express new ideas that were revolutionary. Even if the Catholic Church didn’t agree with it, they could’ve handled the matters more appropriately and have a different approach to it. Instead, they could’ve publicly addressed it and state that the Catholic Church and Galileo have conflicting views, emphasising that Catholic view is support by scripture. They didn’t need to belittle Galileo because after all, the Catholic Church had extreme power and authority in society. So they didn’t have to worry about their reputation or losing followers. However, the Catholic Church struggled to control Galileo and refused to accept the idea of Heliocentrism. They didn’t need to condemn and approve it, but it was not necessary to treat Galileo the way they did. If anything it shows their weaknesses and their sense of vulnerability.