Skip to main content

Galileo and the Pope once more

EWTN news reports that Pope Benedict XVI has cancelled a visit to Rome's La Sapienza University. La Sapienza is Rome's oldest public university having been founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII.

Students and professors at the university are protesting at the speech delivered by the then Cardinal Ratzinger in that he said "in Galileo's time the Church remained much more faithful to reason than Galileo himself. The trial against Galileo was reasonable and just".

It seems that Ratzinger's earlier pronouncements are hounding him now that he is Pope. This is too bad. There is a difference between a Professor-Cardinal and a Professor-Pope. The Regensburg Don may propose a disputation to students and the students if unprepared would look and sound foolish. But as Pope, Ratzinger can no longer propose disputations with students or the academe without generating controversy. Papa Ratzi may just propose these to the theologians.

His predecessor Pope John Paul II generated a lot of controversy with his papal pronouncements and encyclicals. But John Paul II never generated a controversy in a university. In fact in visits to university he was so beloved.

Now what seems to reignite the Galileo Church vs Science debate is Ratzinger himself. While John Paul apologized for the Church's handling of the Galileo Affair, Ratzinger thinks otherwise.

This controversy set back meaningful dialogue between science and Catholicism which John Paul put so much effort on.

While Galileo did make significant errors in his scientific theory, he was limited by the data he had. That Ratzinger said that the Church was more faithful to reason than Galileo is smacks of condescension. The fact is both Galileo and the theologians were out of bounds in their reasoning. The theologians as John Paul said misinterpreted Scripture. Galileo had not enough data hence some his conclusions may be off tangent. But Galileo deserves better treatment from the conservatives of the 21st century Roman Church. After all advancement of knowledge requires standing by and validating daring hypotheses and not 400 year old theological apologies.

The truth is the Roman Church may not have fully appreciated or comprehended the scientific revolution that Galileo started.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kung bakit dapat maging wikang pambansa din ang Ingles

Isang kakatwang eksena ang nasaksihan ko sa isang pribabdong opisina kamakailan lang. Dalawang empleyado ang inatasang bigyan ng solusyon ang isang isyu tungkol sa logistics. Ang isa ang tubong Davao at ang isa ay taga Iloilo. Ang unang wika nila ay Cebuano (Bisaya) at Hiligaynon (Ilonggo). Ang dalawang wika ay halos pareho ngunit may mga katagang iba ang kahulugan sa isa't isang wika. Ginamit nila ang wika nilang kinalakihan at hindi sila nagkaintindihan. Ang nangyari tuloy ay gumamit na lang sila ng wikang Ingles! Yung na nga rin ang sabi ko. Mag-English na lang kaya kayo! At bakit di wikang Filipino ang ginamit nila? Sa totoo lang, marami pa rin ang hindi bihasa sa Filipino upang gamitin ito sa mga larangan tulad ng logistics. At hindi lamang sa mga larangang teknikal, sa mga biyahe ko sa ibat-ibat lugar sa Pilipinas, ang mga naka-paskel sa mga CR o palikuran tungkol sa pagtitipid ng tubig ay naka sulat sa 1)Wika ng rehiyon 2) Wikang Ingles 3) at minsa'y sa wikang Filipino S

Simoun's lamp has been lit, finally.. not by one but by the many!

"So often have we been haunted by the spectre of subversion which, with some fostering, has come to be a positive and real being, whose very name steals our serenity and makes us commit the greatest blunders... If before the reality, instead of changing the fear of one is increased, and the confusion of the other is exacerbated, then they must be left in the hands of time..." Dr Jose Rizal "To the Filipino People and their Government" Jose Rizal dominates the Luneta, which is sacred to the Philippine nation as a place of martyrdom. And many perhaps all of those executed in the Luneta, with the exception of the three Filipino secular priests martyred in 1872, have read Rizal's  El Filibusterismo . Dr Rizal's second novel is a darker and more sinister one that its prequel but has much significance across the century and more after it was published for it preaches the need for revolution with caveats,  which are when the time is right and who will in

President Manuel Luis Quezon's Code of Ethics

Being a denizen of Kyusi, in honour of the man who gave my city its name and for being the most colourful prez the Philippines ever had, I have the pleasure to post Manuel L Quezon's Code of Ethics on his birthday. Let us profit from the wisdom of the Kastila. 1. Have Faith in the Divine Providence that guides the destinies of men and nations. 2. Love your country for it is the home of your people, the seat of your affection and the source of your happiness and well-being. It's defense is your primary duty. Be ready to sacrifice and die for it if necessary. 3. Respect the Constitution which is the expression of your sovereign will. The government is your government. It has been established for your safety and welfare. Obey the laws and see that they are observed by all and that public officials comply with their duties. 4. Pay your taxes willingly and promptly. Citizenship implies not only rights but obligations. 5. Safeguard the purity of suffrage and abide by the decisions of