Aftermath
Authority was in the hands of The Church during Galileo’s time. The fact the Church members refused to look into the telescope for the proof of the sun being the center of the Universe demonstrated the Church’s unwillingness to accept an idea that contradicted what they believed to be true. Tradition proved to be greater than scientific knowledge. Clinging on to old tradition meant holding on to power and the church was not going to let the authority they had over their believers escape. The church had already made legal ground in writing that explained this. It read : "Furthermore, to control petulant spirits, the council decrees that ,in matters of faith and morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine, no one, relying on his own judgment and distorting the Sacred Scriptures according to his own conceptions, shall dare to interpret them contrary to that sense the Holy Mother Church, to whom it belongs to judge of their true sense and meaning, has held and does hold, or even contrary to the unanimous agreement of the Fathers, even though such interpretations should never at all time be published. Those who do otherwise shall be identified by the ordinaries and punished in accordance with the penalties prescribed by the law." You can see in this passage that the church didn't want anybody interpreting the Scriptures in any way. The people didn’t have the authority to question or interpret. Authority belonged to the Church.
Latest On Church
The latest news on the Catholic Church arrived on October 31,1992 when Pope John Paul II explained that from Galileo's Affair there could be a lesson learned. Paul said: "From the Galileo affair one can draw a lesson that remains valid in relation to similar situations that occur today and that may occur in the future" He also said, “Thanks to his intuition as a brilliant physicist and by relying on different arguments, Galileo, who practically invented the experimental method, understood why only the sun could function as the center of the world, as it was then known, that is to say, as a planetary system. The error of the theologians of the time, when they maintained the centrality of the Earth, was to think that our understanding of the physical world's structure was, in some way, imposed by the literal sense of Sacred Scripture...."-Pope John Paul II Later on in 2002 John Paul again addresses to the people but this time apologized on behalf of the Catholic Church over 2,000 years in history for committing a mistake.
Science & Religion Today
Even though Galileo immediately faced disapproval from the Church and was forced to recant his views, the Affair itself proves to be a valuable lesson for modern scientist and theologians. We have seen in our past that religion and science can often clash, but perhaps society can learn from events such as the Galileo Affair and become more open‐minded so that we may further our knowledge of the Universe as a people.