Transgressing against the Church
By Edgar Louis Garcia
HAPI Scholar
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Catholic Church was greatly respected and feared by many. Their devotion to God was matched only by their brutality against those who would stand in their way. People who were against the Church were considered heretics and thus deserved “divine punishment.” Scientists were among those deemed as heretics because they formed theories that went against Church teachings. One example would be Nicolaus Copernicus’ claim that the Earth rotated around the Sun. Such positions were enough to get you berated, and if you’re even more unlucky, persecuted. An ideological war between religion and science occurred during those days, but it would be the side of science that would suffer more casualties.
Copernicus and his “successor” Galileo Galilei were two scientists who published books that were banned by the Church for being heretical. Copernicus faced no consequence; he died shortly after publishing his book (“On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres“). Galileo, on the other hand, was not as lucky. After his “Dialogue on the Two World Systems” drew the ire of Pope Urban VIII, he was tried by the Inquisition and sentenced to house arrest until his death. The Church actively censored anyone they deemed “heretical” and went as far as imprisoning them for a certain amount of time or killing them.
These attacks on two of the world’s most influential scientists put into perspective how depraved the Church could be when their authority, position, and power are challenged. Due to their brutality, people learned not to go against the Church, instead preferring to avoid them if they could. While they were supportive of science in other ways (it’s good to remember that the discoverer of the author of the Big Bang Theory, Georges Lemaître, was a Catholic priest!), anything that could threaten their influence was deemed dangerous and censored to obscurity. Meanwhile, they also persecuted people who challenged their ideas.
Despite the long trail of blood that they have left throughout modern history, it’s fair to say that the Church has had occasional bouts of goodness – a reminder that they, too, are human. Nevertheless, despite their philanthropy, they must remain accountable for their crimes from centuries past. We may no longer live under their iron fist, but that doesn’t mean we get to forget.
“Science adjusts its views based on what’s observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved.”
– Tim Minchin
