1. His discoveries provided evidence that Aristotle’s views were correct.
2. As a result of his discoveries, he decided to oppose the Cardinals.
3. His research did not lend credence to the Copernican hypothesis.
4. His discoveries ran counter to the doctrine and authority of the Church.
5. The findings of Galileo alarmed the leaders of both the Catholic and Protestant churches since they contradicted Church doctrine and challenged the authority of the church.

How did the church respond to Galileo?

Even while there is little question that Galileo endured hardship on a personal level, the Church maintained its support for scientific research. Before Galileo’s time, during Galileo’s time, and beyond Galileo’s time, the Church continued to be at the forefront of the emerging scientific disciplines.

What is the Galileo controversy?

1. The controversy around Galileo.
2. It is a widely held belief that Galileo was persecuted by the Catholic Church because he abandoned the geocentric (solar system with the earth at the center) view of the solar system in favor of the heliocentric (solar system with the sun at the center) perspective.
3. Many people who are opposed to Catholicism believe that the Church is anti-scientific and will not give up on archaic beliefs because of the Galileo case.

Why was Galileo condemned as a heretic?

1. In February of 1616, a council of theological advisors to the pope came to the conclusion that it was erroneous science and quite possibly heresy to teach as fact that the sun was at the center of the universe, that the earth is not at the center of the world, and that it moves.
2. They also came to the conclusion that such teachings were quite likely to lead people astray.
3. Cardinal Bellarmine was asked to deliver the news to Galileo even though the scientist himself was not found guilty of any wrongdoing.

What is the significance of the Galileo affair for Catholics?

The Galileo scandal quickly became ingrained in the mythical canon of Western Protestantism and secularism, where it came to represent the Church as being anti-intellectual, anti-science, and anti-freedom.