March 15, 2008 – IR Summary - Four centuries after, the Catholic Church had ordered Galileo Galilei to come to Rome and stand trial on suspicion of heresy, and now a  statue of the Italian astronomer is likely to be erected at the Vatican in 2009.

It you go back to history, you may recall Catholic Church had condemned Galileo and put him to house arrest in 1633 since his belief clashed with that of theirs.

Galileo had said that the Sun was at the center of the Solar System, and not the Earth, and the Catholic Church showed their displeasure and said that was against the spirit of the holy bible and as such he should be punished.

It is surprising now that in the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, which is to celebrate 400 years since Galileo first used a telescope to study the space and tried to measure the heavens, the Vaticans have given their consent go join in commemorating the anniversary of Galileo.

The statue was commissioned by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and was paid for with private donations. The president of the Academy, Nicola Cabibbo, said the statue shows Galileo standing and in a teaching gesture.

Cabibbo, a particle scientist, said honoring Galileo in this way is important because the Academy considers Galileo to be one of the oldest members of their group.

Galileo was a member of the National Academy of Lincei, from which the Pontifical Academy began.

At his trial, Galileo argued that his heliocentric beliefs and writings did not oppose the church’s teachings, and stated that the bible was not mean to provide scientific explanations.

He once wrote that scripture does not reveal what is in the heavens, but rather how to get to heaven.

In 1992, Pope John Paul II acknowledged that that the church make a mistake when it condemned Galileo for maintaining that the Earth revolved around the Sun, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary.

He also said that theologians should keep informed on scientific advances to determine if there was cause for “introducing changes in their teaching.”

The exact location for the statue has not yet been determined, but Cabibbo was confident that the details would be worked out in time for the start of the anniversary celebrations in early 2009, as per Catholic Times.