The Sleepwalkers (221 page)

The
document
had
consequences
which
are
still
felt
today.
It
represents,
as
it
were,
the
crack
in
the
wall
which
led
to
the
falling
apart
of
Science
and
Faith.
It
is
therefore
important
to
examine
its
exact
meaning
and
intent,
as
distinct
from
its
psychological
effect
and
its
historic
consequences.

In
the
first
place,
it
must
be
repeated
that
the
Qualifiers
talked
of
heresy,
the
decree
did
not.
The
Qualifiers'
Opinion
became
known
to
the
public
only
in
1633,
when
Galileo
forced
a
second
showdown,
and
the
Opinion
was
quoted
in
the
verdict
of
his
trial.
Even
then,
it
remained
a
judicial
opinion,
without
endorsement
by
Papal
authority,
and
therefore
not
binding
on
members
of
the
Church.
Accordingly,
the
immobility
of
the
earth
never
became
an
article
of
faith,
nor
the
immobility
of
the
sun
a
heresy.

Similar
considerations
of
a
judicial
nature
apply
to
the
decree
itself.
It
was
issued
by
the
Congregation
of
the
Index,
but
not
confirmed
by
papal
declaration
ex
cathedra
or
by
Oecumenical
Council,
and
its
contents
therefore
never
became
infallible
dogma.
All
this
was
deliberate
policy;
it
is
even
known
that
it
was
urged
upon
Paul
V,
who
would
have
liked
to
make
Copernicus
a
heretic
and
basta,
by
Cardinals
Barberini
and
Gaetani.
These
points
have
been
stressed
over
and
again
by
Catholic
apologists,
but
on
the
man
in
the
street
such
subtleties
were
lost;
whether
it
became
dogma
or
not,
the
condemnation
of
the
Copernican
system
as
"altogether
opposed
to
Holy
Scripture"
in
1616,
and
as
"formally
heretical"
in
1633,
was
quite
enough
to
have
its
disastrous
effect.
A
quite
different
question
is
how
the
decree
affected
the
freedom
of
scientific
discussion.
First
we
must
note
that
although
Galileo
is
the
chief
culprit,
his
name
is
not
mentioned
in
the
proceedings,
and
his
works
are
not
put
on
the
Index.
Equally
striking
is
the
distinction
made
in
the
treatment
of
Copernicus'
Revolutions
and
of
Foscarini's
book.
Copernicus'
book
is
"suspended
until
it
be
corrected";
but
Foscarini's
book
is
"altogether
prohibited
and
condemned".
The
reason
is
given
in
the
preceding
sentence
in
the
decree:
Foscarini
had
attempted
to
show
that
the
Copernican
doctrine
is
"consonant
with
truth
and
not
opposed
to
Holy
Scripture",
whereas
Copernicus
is
charged
with
no
such
thing.
Galileo
himself
commented
a
few
days
after
the
decree
that
the
Church:

"has
gone
no
further
than
to
decide
that
[the
Copernican]
opinion
does
not
concur
with
the
Bible.
Hence
they
have
forbidden
only
such
books
which
professionally
attempt
to
sustain
it
as
not
discordant
with
the
Bible...
From
Copernicus'
own
Book
10
lines
will
be
taken
from
the
preface
addressed
to
Pope
Paul
III
where
the
author
says
that
his
doctrine
does
not
seem
to
him
contrary
to
the
Bible,
and
I
hear
that
here
and
there
a
word
may
be
removed
where
the
earth
is
called
a
star."
⁴⁴

The
Letters
on
Sunspots
were
the
only
printed
work
by
Galileo
^*
which
contained
a
favourable
reference
to
the
Copernican
system;
but
since
that
reference
treated
it
merely
as
a
hypothesis,
it
escaped
censure.

____________________

Thus
the
effect
of
the
decree
on
scientific
discussion
and
research
was
to
leave
things
almost
exactly
where
they
had
been.
Astronomers
could
discuss
Copernicus
and
compute
the
course
of
the
planets
as
if
they
were
moving
round
the
sun,
provided
that
they
spoke
hypothetically.
Galileo
had
refused
to
compromise,
and
the
compromise
had
been
enforced
by
decree.
But
what
the
decree
conveyed
to
simple
sons
of
the
Church
was
that
to
talk
of
the
earth's
motion
was
a
Bad
Thing
and
contrary
to
faith;
and
what
it
conveyed
to
the
sceptic
was
that
the
Church
had
declared
war
on
Science.