Galileo and the church

I wish to correct a misunderstanding in Kathleen Parker’s column, Feb. 8.

Galileo did not get in trouble with the Catholic Church for proposing that the Earth revolved around the sun. Copernicus had proposed it 80 years earlier.

Pope Urban VIII was greatly interested in Galileo’s work and gave him the opportunity to present his ideas before important people. But Galileo’s theory seemed to contradict Scripture, and the church was sensitive to Protestant charges that it did not always interpret Scripture literally. So they decided that Scripture would be interpreted literally unless there was enough scientific proof to warrant another interpretation.

Galileo could not yet present enough evidence to prove his idea. So they told him to teach it as a theory, rather than as a fact, until the necessary proof could be found. Galileo was too impatient to comply with this, and that’s what got him into trouble.

Rather than resisting science, the church was the main institution supporting all the sciences through the Middle Ages. This was because Catholics believed that God created an orderly universe with natural laws that could be discovered. Science explores God’s creation.

Margaret Maresca

Chewelah, Wash.