Vatican recasting Galileo from heretic to man of faith

[YankeyMCC]

(snip)
In May, several Vatican officials will participate in an international conference to reexamine the Galileo affair, and top Vatican officials are now saying Galileo should be named the "patron" of the dialogue between faith and reason.
(snip)

(snip)
"Galileo Galilei was a man of faith who saw nature as a book authored by God," Bertone said.

The head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture, which cosponsored the conference, went further. Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi told Vatican Radio that Galileo "could become for some the ideal patron for a dialogue between science and faith."

He said Galileo's writings offered a "path" to explore how faith and reason were not incompatible.
(snip)

(snip)
"Pope Benedict XVI is ardently convinced of the congruence of faith and reason, and he is concerned, especially in the present circumstances, of giving reason its due place,"he said.
(snip)

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/12/25/vatican_recasting_galileo_from_heretic_to_man_of_faith/

Well I smell something, desperation? Hypocrisy? Just plain irony? Something slightly unpleasant at least :)

[laconicsax]

1. Galileo was inspired by God to write a book that challenged a book written by God?

-Galileo wrote a book challenging a book written by God.
-This lead to an infallible Pope to declare him a heretic.
-Centuries later, another infallible Pope declared that the previous infallible Pope was wrong.
-The next infallible Pope declared that Galileo's book was inspired by God.

[amyrose2712]

2. Round and Round the Circle of Ridculousness nt

[awoke_in_2003]

3. and you thought repubs were crazy. nt

[ihavenobias]

6. Good summary. n/t

[D-Lee]

4. Read Galileo's Daughter, a wonderful and informative book

Here's a brief summary, with a link at the end to the book's website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo's_Daughter

Thanks for this post!

The current statement that the prosecution of Galileo was a result of "misunderstanding" is laughable -- read about Galileo's extensive defense and calls upon support by other scholars of the time.

The book gives an excellent example of disputes between faith and science, which so typify the Bush administration, so this subject is a great post for the DU boards.

[Deep13]

5. The fact that he was not an admitted atheist...

...during a time when being a different kind of Christian could get you barbecued demonstrates absolutely nothing. Suffice it to say that I draw a very different lesson from the church's treatment of Galileo.