Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Pope recognizes star status of 'great Galileo' Date: Fri, 30 Oct 92 15:33:28 EST Message-ID: \SE A \SS (WS) \HD Pope recognizes star status of 'great Galileo' \BY REUTERS \DT VATICAN CITY VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul II is expected to definitively rehabilitate Galileo, the 16th-century Italian scientist condemned by the Inquisition for his view that Earth revolved around the sun. The Vatican said yesterday that the pope will address a session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Saturday to end formally the work of a commission he set up 13 years ago to study the Galileo case. The Inquisition condemned Galileo in 1633 for backing the theories of astronomer Nicolas Copernicus because they clashed with biblical verses. Since then, the pope several times admitted that the Roman Catholic Church wronged Galileo. During a 1989 visit to Pisa, Galileo's birthplace, the pope referred to him as "the great Galileo Galilei" and said his scientific work was "imprudently opposed." The commission's initial report in 1984 said Galileo was wrongly condemned for asserting that Earth revolved around the sun. Inquisitors forced Galileo, who died in 1642 after years of house arrest, to sign a retraction admitting his conclusions were contrary to the faith. However, according to legend, as Galileo left the inquisitors who condemned him, he muttered under his breath, "Eppur si muove" - "It [Earth] does move, all the same." Pope John Paul II, a Pole like Copernicus, has made the improvement of relations between the Church and science one of the goals of his pontificate. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM