February 26th 1616 -- The Pisa Chronicle -- Jonathini Watsoni
Today Galileo Galilei, the famous astronomer, has been given a dressing down by the Jesuit cardinal Robert Bellarmine. For years the eccentric mathematician has been disagreeing with those in power and peering down his telescopes at the heavens. Why is the Church so bothered now? It seems a bit of back-stabbing has been going on, with professors suggesting a couple of years ago to the Medicis that Galileo's beliefs about the movement of the earth were heretical.
Although since then Galileo has done his best to distance scientific arguments from interpretation of the Bible, the Pope, it seems has had enough. We have it on the word of one close to Bellarmine that the Pope personally demanded that he call Galileo in for a good talking to.
But here the story gets rather muddled. Both Bellarmine and Galileo have said that the meeting was good humoured and that differences were resolved and Galileo accepted that cardinals warning but - and here is the mystery - others claim that an injunction was then issued. This is a much more serious step, but would only be undertaken if the Cardinal felt Galileo was flouting the wishes of the Church.
Do we smell a rat? Could the rat be Father Segizi, the Commisary-General of the Holy Office? We know he was at the meeting and a rumour is now going around that he was seen tampering with the files. Galileo is now asking for reassurances that an amicable agreement was reached without the need for an injunction.
This issue seems set to rumble on. Will Galileo after years of hard work be able to resist further work on the theory of Copernicus? Will the Pope be satisfied that the danger to the Church has been dealt with? Might - after all - Galileo find himself at the receiving end of an Inquisition? Only time will tell.
Jonathan Watson
December 9, 1999.
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