One of the most famous examples of the conflict between religion and science is the trial of Galileo Galilei.
Galileo supported the Copernican view that the Earth revolved around the Sun, a “heliocentric” theory which the church declared to be contradicted to the Bible. Galileo was warned against supporting this theory, and instead espoused the traditional “geocentric” view, in which the Earth was a fixed point at the center around which everything revolved.

Galileo faced the Roman Inquisition. Painting by Cristiano Banti in 1857.

Artistic representation of the geocentric system with the signs of the Zodiac and the Solar System with the Earth at the center.

The artistic painting represents the heliocentric theory, with the Solar System having the Sun in the center.
Instead, in 1632, Galileo published “Dialogue on Two Important World Systems”. The book is structured as a dialogue between Salviati, a heliocentric philosopher, Simplicio, a geocentric philosopher, and Sagredo, a neutral civilian. In fact, Pope Urban VIII allowed Galileo to write the book as long as he did not allow any view to prevail. However, Salviati argued Galileo’s arguments vigorously, and Simplicio was often ridiculed as an idiot.

A story often told is that, after Galileo’s book was published, the Pope felt insulted when his words were conveyed through Simplicio.

Galileo explains the Moon’s terrain to two Cardinals. Painting by Jean Leon Huens.
Not only is the image of the Pope built in a very ridiculous way, but the author’s very name has a double meaning (Simplicio/simple-minded/semplice means “simple-minded” in Italian). . However, Vatican astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno rejected this analysis.
“First, ‘Simplicio’ is a name that has long existed in philosophical discourse, not something new invented by Galileo, to refer to someone who can see through the fog of creation by more sophisticated and knowledgeable philosophers who can invent sophisticated theories but lose the ability to see simple, obvious truths, just as a bright child can realize that The sole is also naked,” Consolmagno said. “In this context, its use can be seen as a compliment. Second, this type of pun is relatively common in English but I don’t think it is necessarily so common in Italian; I don’t know if anyone at that time understood it the way English speakers do. And finally, from the very beginning the book was approved by the papal censors; so if the Pope felt that the name had a disparaging meaning, he would have drawn attention to it even before the book was printed.”
However, its opposing influence eventually forced the church to withdraw its publishing rights. Galileo faced a specially convened commission of ten magistrates, who convicted him of heresy. By abstaining – declaring that he had never believed in the heliocentric view presented in the book – Galileo’s sentence was commuted to house arrest.
“His sentence was that he must be an honorable guest of the bishop of Siena before returning to his own home, where he lived for another decade, received frequent visitors, and another book. different,” Consolmagno said. “I don’t want to excuse the mistakes the church made in the matter of Galileo, but… it certainly wasn’t a simple way of behaving just to denounce science.”
Consolmagno believes that to truly understand what happened, we need to consider the philosophical thinking of the time and the events that occurred in the Church and on the larger scale of society. This context can be reflected from the original documents about the trial, which have been translated into English in various publications, for example the publication “The Galileo Trial” by author Maurice Finocchiaro (Publisher). University of California edition, 1989).
In 1992, Pope John Paul II issued a statement admitting mistakes in the Galileo case.

“They tried Galileo based on a technicality, and he committed a crime based on that technicality; But why they decided to convict him, in that way, at that time, remains unanswered,” Consolmagno said. “Today, we can see that he should never have been put on trial in the first place.”

Bronze portrait statue of Giordano Bruno in front of Piazza de Fiori in Rome, where he was executed in 1600.
Not only did Bruno support the heliocentric concept, he also asserted that there exists many more worlds beyond Earth, each orbiting their own sun. Consolmagno and his colleague, Vatican astronomer Father Paul Pavel Gabor, argued that Bruno’s death sentence was not because he promoted these views.

“There’s an old joke that if he was burned at the stake for any reason, it would be because he was a plagiarist,” Consolmagno said. “Nicholas of Cusa published those ideas 200 years earlier, and he was a Cardinal.”

Cosmic glass window in the hall of the church of Santa Maria degli Angelo in Rome, Italy. (Photo: internet)
Nicholas of Cusa’s book, “On Learned Ignorance”, in which he presented the possibility of different worlds, was published in 1440. He also wrote that aliens can exist on the moon and sun.
“He was made a Cardinal in 1440, so it is quite obvious that it did not affect his career,” noted Vatican astronomer Bishop Paul Pavel Gabor.
Consolmagno said the most likely reason for the Church’s animosity was that Bruno denied the divinity of God, as well as some other basic doctrines of Christianity.
“I think the real problem with Bruno is that he was accused of being a British spy,” Gabor added. He said Bruno was imprisoned in various places across Europe before going to prison in Venice, which later led to his death in Rome. Gabor said the documents about his 7-year trial were lost, because Napoleon looted all of the Vatican’s documents.

“People keep writing about it as if what happened was just a fantasy,” Gabor said.

Although it appears that this photo was taken during the day, it was actually taken at night. These orange streaks are thin clouds illuminated by the Moon as they move rapidly toward the distant horizon. A series of time-lapse images, taken in the area of ​​an abandoned church in Sounio, Greece, shows long streaks of stars rotating around the central Big Dipper star. (Photo: internet)
Church: does not deny the existence of aliens and many other worlds
Both Consolmagno and Gabor emphasize that the existence of aliens and many worlds is not a new idea for the Church, and that it does not challenge or threaten the central beliefs of their religion. . The Vatican also sponsored an astrobiology conference in 2009. According to Consolmagno, the Church did so to create a discussion forum for leading scientists in this field.
“It’s not like the way people report on CNN, where the Catholic church is quite worried when someone mentions aliens,” he said.
They said no religious discussion took place at this conference; Instead, the focus is purely on astrobiology. The philosophical intersection of religion and science is discussed only informally, during breaks and other social gatherings.
The existence of aliens and multiple worlds is not a new idea to the Church, and it does not challenge or threaten the central beliefs of their religion.
Philosophers have been trying to grasp the implications of extraterrestrial life for hundreds of years, if not longer. But until aliens are found, these issues will remain within the realm of science fiction, not religion or science.

“I think science fiction has to play that very important role, because right now we’re just playing with ideas,” Consolmagno said. “We are only just beginning to explore the outer space in which these ideas can exist. We don’t know – we don’t have any answers. That’s what makes it so exciting!”