The Problem Posed by Galileo

Transcription

1 Faculty of Theology CHALLENGES OF FAITH The Problem Posed by Galileo Professor: Rev. Fr. R. O Connor Student: Augustinus Demirbaş SE Second Year, First Cycle Rome, 28 November 2018!1

2 1. Introduction Real Story How Did Smearing Begin? Current Stance of the Catholic Church Catholic Church and Science Conclusion Introduction Today it is the common point of mainstream culture to proclaim Church hates science and it always oppresses it when it can! or Faith and reason (or science) cannot coexist!. This idea is so widespread that one would think there are many pieces of evidence of this throughout the history and it is an obvious fact. But the truth is farther away from what has been said; although some would tend to consider the Dominican friar Bruno who was burnt at stake as a science martyr it is not a popular case (and his execution was not due to his scientific believes), there is one big case which is the fountain of all these slanders against the Church and it is the infamous Galileo case. Cardinal Newman said, Here exceptio probat regulam (exception proves the rule) for it is the one stock argument. 1 It really is the stock argument for all the slanders and even in itself, it is nev- er presented fairly and historically. Galileo case still is a big obstacle for lapsing Catholics and faith-seeking people to find their way to Church. In this paper, I will handle the subject as what really happened historically and how falsehoods entered into storytelling part of it. Catholic Church s current stand against this case and for evangelization purposes; I will try to offer some solutions to this case. Since facts are on our side not only with the case itself, but the whole the Church is against science claim. 2. Real Story People are being told that Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer had discovered/defended the heliocentric system and has been accused by the Inquisition because this theory is in odds with the Bible. Some ignorant people even say that he is executed for it. All these claims are far away from 1 John Henry Newman, Apologia, chp. 5.!2

3 the truth. First of all, we should look who Galileo really is; he is more of a mathematician and physicist than an astronomer. His biggest contributions to science is the use of mathematics in experiments that lead a big leap in the scientific method. And he had discovered the motion of the falling objects. His biggest contribution to astronomy is actually not his theories (most of them would be considered wrong today) but the device he used to make his observations; telescope. Heliocentric system was not his discovery but of Copernicus, a Catholic clergyman. Because of Galileo s theories on motion, Copernican theory appealed to him but he didn t consider writing about it until In 1609 he invented the telescope and started to observe the heavens in a way that has never done before, he published his observations in 1610 in a report called Sidereus Nuncius ( Starry Message ) and after that a letter on Sun Spots at Then he wrote letters to Castelli (1613) and Duchess Christina (1615) defending the Copernican theory of the sun-centered universe. The problem is in these letters he didn t only speak about his scientific observations or theories (which he couldn t prove yet) but he also criticized the current Biblical interpretations of theologians and mocked his fellow scientists for believing well accepted Aristotelian view of the universe. Early 1615 a Dominican friar reported him to Roman Inquisition. He is not summoned because his works were not published yet. But later this year, he went to Rome himself to defend the Copernican system. In 1616, Cardinal Bellarmine, in the name of the Roman Inquisition, gave Galileo a private warning that forbids him to hold, teach or defend the heliocentric system. Galileo accepted and agreed to obey. After this incident Index of Prohibited Books, the department of the Church that is responsible with the censorship, published a decree (without mentioning Galileo s name) declaring that heliocentricism is false, that it contradicts scripture and work of Copernicus was banned until it is revised. After all that Galileo went silent on this matter for years. In 1623 a good friend, old admirer, and benefactor of Galileo, Cardinal Maffeo Barberini became Pope Urban VIII. Gelileo finally got the courage to rewrite on the heliocentric system. Pope encouraged him to do so but in a prudent way. Pope told him to study it in an objective and scientific matter and do not show it as reality itself because Galileo s shreds of evidence were not enough to prove this theory yet and the matter already went out of range of astronomy and into the theology. Nevertheless, in 1632, Galileo finished writing his work Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems as a dialogue between three people talking about Ptolemaic and Copernican system handling the subject from a cosmological, astronomical, physical and philosophical aspects and avoiding theological and biblical aspects. But his work was far from being objective and he put the!3

4 words of Pope (and all other current astronomers and theologians) to the character called Simplicio which is seen as a naive and dumb person defending the Ptolemaic system. After biting the hand that fed him he was summoned to Roman Inquisition in Inquisition allowed him to stay in Tuscan embassy comfortably and when they started with proceedings of the trial they hosted him in Inquisition Palace, again really comfortably, in prosecutor s six-room apartment with a servant who carried meals to him from the Tuscan embassy. They found him guilty with a vehement suspicion of heresy. During the whole process with his interrogations and sentencing only three days are off the records and it is actually clear that he was not imprisoned in a cell or tortured at all because he showed up at the convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva for sentencing healthy and normal, considering his old age staying in prison cell and getting tortured would render him unable to appear healthy during the trial. Also, there is the fact that he has many strong people, including the Pope, as his friends. Although the Pope gave consent to his interrogation and condemnation he kept acting kind to him after all, so it is not humanly possible to think that they treated him harshly during these 3 days. They made him recite an abjuration that he is retracting his beliefs on the heliocentric system and his Dialogue was banned, he was also sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life. After this, he was moved to the luxurious palace owned by Grand Duke of Tuscany called Villa Medici. Pope granted him permission to travel to Siena where Archbishop, a good friend of Galileo, hosted him for 5 months. Then he went to stay in his own villa in Arcetri near Florence studying peacefully until end of his life. He passed away in Although widespread lies tell much worse of a fate befallen on Galileo, given the facts above, one could still wonder why did the Catholic Church pay that much heed to the situation in a still harsh way considering today s standards. We cannot judge historical cases out of context, we also have to see what was going on in Europe during this period. Whole Europe was under constant attack of Turks for centuries, concentrating on this threat the Church was unable to prevent widespread Protestant Reformation (which was supported both by European nobles and Turks for political gains) which divided whole Christendom and wreck havoc on unity, philosophy, theology, and many other aspects of life in Europe. Theological challenges posed by Protestants confused Church s response to scientific activity under her own roof. Protestants kept claiming that Church was not interpreting the Bible correctly and in passages like And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed 2 was read by many as suggesting a stable earth. Because of the Protestant Ref- ormation Church adopted a more literalist way of interpreting the Bible in Council of Trent. 2 Joshua 10:13!4

5 Even this whole background of events would not be a problem if Galileo listened to Cardinal Bellarmine. He reminded Galileo that if there is a scientific certainty, Church would stop literal interpretation of that subject and reinterpret the Scripture, but the literal interpretation of the Scripture should precede scientific probability. The problem was Galileo couldn t show enough evidence to oppositions; most important question was that stars seem to stay in a stable way on the sky while their places should change radically if the earth was moving around the sun and rotating around itself. Only explanation Copernic brought to this phenomena was that stars should be far away but, at that time, there was no evidence for that either. We didn t have confirmation for stellar parallax until the nineteenth century. That was why astronomers of that time, like Brahe, did not fully adopt the Copernican theory and stayed hesitant. Galileo tried to defend his position through effects and said tidal waves are caused by rotation of the earth which we now know is not the case, and actually they are caused by different phases of the moon which was discovered by Galileo s contemporary Kepler. All this would cause no problem if Galileo stayed away from theology and biblical interpretation and accept his belief is just a hypothesis (not in a modern sense, we will touch that subject later on) and not a theory yet. But in his pride, he went all the way to ridicule and mock his contemporary scientists, theologians, and even the Pope himself and tried to interpret the Word of God to his liking without enough evidence in his hands. We can safely say that it wasn t Galileo s scientific studies that got him in trouble but his contemptuous attitude. Even with his ill attitude, he could have it easier if the political situation was calmer, and personal interpretations of the Bible wasn't wreaking havoc on the Church. In Scholastic tradition scientific theories, hypotheses and assumptions were just instruments regarding the physical phenomena to put into use for other practical purposes or speculative sciences. It was not until renaissance era for scientists to claim that these hypotheses and theories must be true and otherwise is impossible. The novelty of truth claim in science and Galileo s personal attitude towards other scientists and theologians paved his way to condemnation. 3. How Did Smearing Begin? As we can see above the Church acted as prudent as possible considering the facts and circumstances. Although it may not be the perfect solution to the case it is hard to see how this single incident could become the most famous and definitive case for Catholic Church is against science claim. This falsehood has both historical and political aspects to it. Before looking into these aspects we should see the record of Roman Inquisition s sentence on that case:!5

6 Because we did not think you had said the whole truth about your intention, we deemed it necessary to proceed against you by a rigorous examination. Here you answered in a Catholic manner, though without prejudice to the above-mentioned things confessed by you and deduced against you about your intention. The second imposed an additional penalty: We condemn you to formal imprisonment in this Holy Office at our pleasure. The text of the Inquisition s sentence and Galileo s abjuration were the only trial documents publicized at the time. 3 From this record, many false assumptions were made for 250 years until other documents regarding the case came to light. Because in language of the Inquisition rigorous examination usually meant torture and also the condemnation to formal imprisonment in Holy Office at Inquisition s pleasure doesn t say much about the reality after discovering of other documents we see that these lines were written to present the public that the case has been dealt harshly to ensure authority and order in society while privately Galileo had a much easier time. So for 150 years, people didn t know enough that Galileo had been dealt with mercifully and spent no time in a prison cell and actually hosted really well both by Embassy of Tuscany and the Church herself. Later on, letters of Tuscan ambassador written to Tuscan King revealed that Pope Urban VIII favored Galileo greatly even after his disregardful mentioning of Pope in his Book and made him as comfortable as possible both during and after the interrogation. The letters reveal that Galileo had a servant and every convenience 4 and after the publication of his sentence Pope tried to do his best to afflict Galileo as little as possible 5. If he was imprisoned or tortured it would be recorded by ambassador for sure. At the end of the nineteenth century, we had more evidence that Galileo has never been tortured because trial proceedings surfaced. Also, we now know that Roman Inquisition rarely practiced torture (which was much more common at that time in other courts) and the regulations in Directory for Inquisitors exclude old, sick, pregnant woman and children from the practice of torture. Galileo was not only old but he also suffered from arthritis and a hernia. The regulations also spared clergy, and we now know that Galileo had received the clerical tonsure, in order to benefit from an ecclesiastical pension. And lastly, regulations held that defendants could not be tortured if there is a 3 4 Maurice A. Finocchiaro. The Essential Galileo. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., Nicolini s letter dated February 13, Nicolini s letter dated April 16,1633!6

7 serious enough crime that would require corporal punishment. Galileo s alleged crime was not a formal heresy thus torturing him would not be justified in any way. Historically we had the facts rather late thus one would think that false claims of torture and imprisonment are innocent and justified. This may be the case with some historians but we have to look into what is written by whom and with what purpose. The most famous account of this claims was by Voltaire, the French writer: the great Galileo, fourscore years of age, was groaning in the prisons of the Inquisition, only for having demonstrated the earth s motion. 6 Voltaire was a Freemason and a forerunner of French Revolution who took advantage of every opportunity to publicly criticize Christianity (and more precisely the Catholic Church) and did not retract his thoughts thus denied of a proper burial. Considering his life and numerous works we can clearly see that his claims on Galileo were not because of historical ignorance but a vindictive agenda driven by grudge and hatred. Many people who have an ill attitude towards the Catholic Church followed Voltaire s path even after the historical facts surfaced: To say that Galileo was tortured is not a reckless claim, but it is simply to repeat what the sentence says. To specify that he was tortured about his intention is not a risky deduction, but it is, again, to report what that text says. These are observation reports, not magical intuitions; proved facts, not cabalistic introspections. 7 Many denigrations were fallen upon the Church, using Galileo case as their starting point. They even tried attacking the dogma of infallibility although it has nothing to do with this case. Although there is a historical aspect to exaggerated claims and lies because historical facts became clear much later on, still, it would be naive to not to see the enmity behind these slanders. To understand the scene better, I would propose to see that same people attacking the Catholic Church almost always fail to mention Luther s comments on Copernic or many witch burnings done by Protestants and even claim we have scientific progress thanks to Protestant Reformation. 4. Current Stance of the Catholic Church Pope Pius XII, Pope Jean Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI openly praised Galileo and even apologized for the conclusion of his trial. The Vatican even issued stamps of Galileo as an expres- 6 7 Voltaire, Descartes and Newton (1728) Italo Mereu, History of Intolerance in Europe, (1979)!7

8 sion of regret. We can see this regret manifest itself even in Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution of Vatican II) citing a work on the life of Galileo. But Popes never failed to mention the historical and political background of the issue and have not agreed with the popular claims of what has been said on the issue. Official statements aside, many people, including both Catholics and non-catholics, wrote many books and articles on this issue trying to debunk the myth. While it is always good to do apologetics against false-claims, we should not try to whitewash the Church but stick to the truth and facts. There are four mistakes done by Catholics when trying to defend the Church. First, they say the decree of the Congregation was not signed by Pope. The problem with this is that the pope never signs these decrees since Congregations always act by his orders. Secondly, they claim Galileo s theory is not condemned in itself, while in truth decrees clearly show Copernican system was condemned without a doubt. Thirdly they say it was allowed by the Church to hold Copernican system hypothetically, while it is true what the Church meant by hypothesis was different from what we understand in today s scientific circles; back then it just had an abstract meaning, like in mathematics did not have any truth claims on how anything is in itself. And lastly, they claim Church condemned immobility of the sun, which is wrong as we know now. But when we read the documents of the trial we can clearly see Church intended simply to say that sun moves around the earth. We have to abandon all these claims because as Catholics we have to strive to defend the truth and truth is on our side on this case that we have nothing to be ashamed of our faith and Church. 5. Catholic Church and Science Contrary to the common belief of our modern societies (both Western and Eastern), the Catholic Church was never opposed to science, but on the contrary, she always supported it. To name a few we can say that Catholic Church is the founder of the modern University system; Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian priest. is considered to be the father of genetics ; Louis Pasteur, a Catholic layman, and microbiologist, was probably the most important scientist in our history of battle against diseases thanks to his inventions on vaccination techniques; Georges Lemaître is the father of Big Bang theory; French priest Marin Mersenne is known as father of acoustics, another French priest Jean-Felix Picard was the first one to accurately measure the size of the earth. We can add many others to the list but our space is limited and the Church has too many people to count that changed the course of scientific history.!8

9 Even in ancient times, on the other hand, the Church Fathers were against the strict literal interpretation of the Holy Scripture regarding the physical phenomena. St. Augustine stated, One does not read in the Gospel that the Lord said: I will send you the Paraclete who will teach you about the course of the sun and moon. For He willed to make them Christians, not mathematicians (De Actis Contra Felicem Manichaeum I, X). It is not true that Church went totally fundamentalist and tried to prevent scientists with literal interpretation of the Bible.We can safely say Catholic Church, both financially and with individual efforts of her members (including Galileo), was and still is the biggest contributor to the world of science. We as Catholics should not be afraid of scientific discoveries but be courageous since, It is the one and the same God who establishes and guarantees the intelligibility and reasonableness of the natural order of things upon which scientists confidently depend, and who reveals himself as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 As an example, we can say that with the Big Bang theory, maybe the biggest astronomic discovery of our modern era, we now can demonstrate that the universe as we know it has a beginning as it is also stated in the Bible. Even St. Thomas Aquinas did not have this as a scientific fact back then thus depended solely on Divine Revelation on this matter. There are and will be countless examples that will not hinder but support our faith and confirm the divine Revelation. Meanwhile biggest part of our faith, and most important truths for our lives (like purpose of our existence), will be out of the field of science. 6. Conclusion As we can see the Galileo case is not what some people make it out to be; it was not a case of Catholic Church goes out and condemns scientusts but it was an inside case, Galileo was a faithful child of the Church who made some bad decisions and had to be disciplined by the Church authorities proportionate to what he had done and political situation of that time. Even in today s standards what had done by Church authorities back then cannot be considered as brutal or violent. Galileo was not right in many of his claims and was completely wrong in his attitude and decisions. Catholic Church has nothing to be ashamed of on this case and as Catholics, with faith and reason, we should be easily defending our Church. 8 John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, 34.!9

10 Bibliography Primary Sources: MOURRET, Fernand, and THOMPSON, Newton. A History of the Catholic Church. Vol. 6. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book, HERBERMANN, Charles, ed. (1913). "Galileo Galilei". Catholic Encyclopedia. (November 17, 2018) NUMBERS, Ronald L. Galileo Goes to Jail: And Other Myths about Science and Religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Secondary Sources: CROCKER, H.W. Triumph. New York: Three Rivers Press, HELDEN, Albert Van. Galileo. Encyclopædia Britannica. (November 16, 2018). HOWELL Kenneth Why Did The Catholic Church Condemn Galileo?. Catholic Answers. (November 15, 2018).!10