Vatican admits its was wrong
 

by the Los Angeles Times, October 31, 1992

VATICAN CITY -- It's official: The Earth revolves around the sun, even for the Vatican.

The Roman Catholic Church has admitted erring these past 359 years in formally condemning Galileo Galilei for entertaining scientific truths it long denounced as anti-scriptural heresy.

Pope John Paul II himself turned up Saturday for a meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to help set the record straight on behalf of the 17th century Italian mathematician, astronomer and physicist who was the first man to use a telescope and who is remembered as one of history's greatest scientists.

"The underlying problems of this case concern both the nature of science and the message of faith," the pope said. "One day we may find ourselves in a similar situation, which will require both sides to have an informed awareness of the field and of the limits of their own competencies."

Thirteen years after he appointed it, a commission of historic, scientific and theological inquiry brought the pope a "not guilty" finding for Galileo, who, at age 69 in 1633, was forced by the Roman Inquisition to repent and spent the last eight years of his life under house arrest.

The commission found that Galileo's clerical judges acted in good faith but rejected his theories because they were "incapable of dissociating faith from an age-old cosmology" -- the biblical version of the Earth as the center of the universe.

"God fixed the Earth upon its foundation, not to be moved forever," says one Bible verse contradicted by Galileo's pioneering notion that the Earth spins daily on its axis and makes and annual journey around the sun.

Unable to comprehend a non-literal reading of Scripture, according to the commission, the judges feared that if Galileo's ideas were taught, they would undermine Catholic tradition at a time when it was under attack by Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin.

"This subjective error of judgment, so clear to us today, led them to a disciplinary measure from which Galileo 'had much to suffer,'" Cardinal Paul Poupard, the commission chairman, told the pope. "These mistakes must be frankly recognized, as you, Holy Father, have requested."

Tried on "vehement suspicion of heresy," Galileo was forced to swear that he "abjured, cursed and detested" the errors of his work, which extended the findings of the Polish astronomer Nicholaus Copernicus that the Earth Moves.

Legend insists that as he finished his abject, life-saving confession of his errors to the black-cowled Inquisitors, Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

The case was important to him, John Paul said Saturday, because over the centuries it had become "the symbol of the church's supposed rejection of scientific progress, or of 'dogmatic' obscurantism opposed to the free search for truth."

PERSONAL ADDENDA

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin."
Cardinal Bellarmine, 1615, during the trial of Galileo

infallable huh? ok

...

You are truly dense if you think this has ANYTHING even REMOTELY to do with Papal infallibility.

.......... yes uncertain I am aware on the rules of papal infallibility..... and I will have you know that it HAS ONLY been Invoked ONCE in history which means that he is not necessarily infallible all the other times he speaks. it was only Invoked when the correction about Mary Magdolin (sp?) was made thats it.


my statement regarding ifallibility was ment to be ironic.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
 

17 th centruy mathmatician astrnomer and something i cant spell...who was first man to use the freaking TELESCOPE and who is remembered as one of histortys great scientists ...Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Which will require both sides to have informed awarness...HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA , yes of course .. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAA

Once again you are wrong. The doctrines of both The Immaculate Conception and the Assumption were infallibly declared. No other doctrines have been solemnly declared by the Pope.

Also, the college of Bishops when acting in unison with the Pope is also infallible.

But this has nothing to do with the topic at hand. In fact, while the topic at hand is interesting, throwing that little cheap shot in there turned it from what should be a good discussion to what appears to be yet another attempt to insult Catholicism.

so they were infallible when they branded Galileo a heritic?? so.....that means....there is no such thing as the church's infallibility???? or is the the exception to the rule?? please do enlighten me.

So this raises the question... where is the part where the church is infallible about the use of contraception? Or is that just policy and now dogmatic law? Or is it just something the pope has condemned but not been infallible on?


Just an honest question because I actually am quite curious on how this part of the catholic belief came to be, because I can not find any basis for this stance that the church has taken.

To tell you the truth, I made a mistake; I should have said, the only two Solemn Declarations by a Pope of infallibility were those two doctrines.

As for the infallibility matter of contraception. JPII obviously condemned and did so expressly in at least one of his encyclicals. Pope Benedict holds that this was an infallible declaration.

Now, even if it wasn't ,this doesn't matter. Catholics are supposed to hold to all Church teachings, whether they have been infallibly defined or not. They are usually only infallibly defined after there is a strong question as to what the Church really believes. CLEARLY, everyone knows what the Church teaches regarding contraception so whether or not there has been an infallible declartion does not matter.

It is my belief though that sometime in the near future we will either get certain confirmation that JPII was speaking infallibly, or simpyl an infallible declaration that condoms are sinful.

I hope this answers your question, although I will admit, this stuff gets confusing.

yes.... but where is the basis for the churches teaching that condoms and other such contraception are sinful? because like I said I have yet to find any base for where they could get that ideology.

Where is the basis as in, where does the Church say so? Or where is the basis, as in "Why does the Church say so"?

In terms of the "why", it is because condoms pervert the intimacy of marriage, taking the pro-creative aspect of it away, which is not what it was intended to be. That is the SUPER short form. Also, the only time a man ever contracepts in the Bible, he is killed.

So the church only condemns condoms?? Because that is all you are mentioning


also the story you are talking about when a man is killed because he "spilled his seed on the ground" was in the old testament which any theology scholar will tell you falls under the "old covenant" which was broken when the one they call "Jesus Christ" died.

So how does the church justify its stance on "family planning"? And please do clear up weather or not you just mean condoms or contraception as a whole here.

No I mean both. Contraception breaks up the procreative aspect of intimacy except does so for the ONLY purpose of doing so, which is just as bad or worse.

Also, the old moral law was NOT abolished, only the ceremonial law, which required them to eat certain foods and be circumcised, etc. etc. The Ten commandments were still valid and so were all moral teachings. Things did not become moral all of a sudden that were immoral.

Also, the Old Covenant was never broken, God KEPT IT, by sending His Son, Jesus. So saying that the OT doesn't apply is incorrect. It is still the inspired Word of God, something all Christians believe--useless laws such as circumcision were debunked because they had been replaced by the NEW Covenant, with Baptism. Things that were singular to the Jews (i.e. cirumcision) were no longer required. That doesn't mean the morality didn't still exist.

So let me ask you... do you have a tattoo? Do you kill a disobedient son? Do you really think what you said makes sense?? How can you pick and chose what "old moral law" to fallow and which to ignore? The old moral law requires death for most transgressions.... how many people have you killed because they have broken the moral law Uncertain?? Or is contraception one of the few that people have picked out of the OT to follow?? If that is the case you are either a terrible sinner or a hypocrite. So please say it ain't so.

First off I probably sin quite a bit. The PENALTIES in the old testament were stronger, but the law was the same.

And I said nothing of picking and choosing. The Moral law does not have a new and old. It is the same, PERIOD. God likes some things and not others, He made it a certain way. It has not changed.

Commiting a greivous sin now takes life out of your soul, but it does not any longer mean God will strike you down--He sent a redeemer, one who tries to save you until your last breath.