Galileo Apology?

[Bill32760]

It appears very clear to me that the Catholic Church made a tragic mistake in handling what I would call Galileo’s scientific advances. Has the Church ever admitted its mistake and apologized to Galileo and his heirs? Or to the scientific community?

This is not a moot question, because various fundamentalist believers are still arguing against scientific advances on the basis of religious beliefs. For example, many Protestant fundamentalists still argue that the Earth was created 8000 years ago, on the basis of their reading of the Bible, and in spite of all the scientific evidence that suggests a much greater age. Is the Catholic Church still using its Biblical beliefs to argue against modern science?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

According to the Vatican Observatory:

Pope John Paul II named a commission to investigate again the Galileo affair; after the work of Galileo commission was completed, Pope John Paul II’s discourse to the Pontifical Academy of science in 1992 stated that Galileo’s sufferings at the hands of some individuals and church institutions were tragic and inescapable, and a consequence of a mutual incomprehension in those times between church theologians and the new scientists such as Galileo. To be clear, science as we know it was just being born and not even scientists of those times could comprehend fully what was happening. The Church officially apologized to Galileo in 2000.

The Catholic Church has the utmost respect for science. At times in history the relationship between the Church and certain scientists can indeed be described as argumentative. Some Church officials have overstepped their bounds by making scientific statements based on theology and some scientists have overstepped their bound by making theological statements based on science. However, on the whole, the Church is very receptive to science and its discoveries and encourages scientists in their work.