This article first appeared in The Tablet in January, 2016 From a Special Injunction of the Roman Inquisition, 26 February 1616: “At the palace of the usual residence of the said Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Bellarmine… the Reverend Father Michelangelo Segizzi of Lodi, O.P. and Commissary General of the Holy Office… in the name of His Holiness the Pope and the whole Congregation of the Holy Office, ordered and enjoined the said Galileo, who was himself still present, to abandon completely the above-mentioned opinion that the sun stands still at the center of the world and the earth moves, and henceforth not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever… The same Galileo acquiesced in this injunction and promised to obey.” The year 2016 marked three hundred years since Galileo’s first trial. But concerns about Church and science exist today. At a recent dinner where I was speaking for the Vatican Observatory Foundation, the wife of a wealthy … Continue reading →