Galileo on Trial

Narrator C: Galileo is a man of tireless curiosity. As a professor at the University of Padua in 1609, he builds a telescope (a recent invention at the time) and begins recording his observations of the planets and stars. One evening in 1610, a student visits him.

Galileo Galilei: Vasco, come here and look through my telescope.

Vasco Conti (looking): This is amazing, sir! I recognize the planet Jupiter—but what do I see near it?

Galileo: Its moons. They orbit Jupiter like our moon orbits Earth.

Conti: I can see so many more stars through this device!

Galileo: It makes the heavens clearer to us than ever before.

Narrator D: Some professors don’t approve of Galileo’s studies. One comes to see him.

Bernardo Castino: Professor, we’re disturbed that your so-called discoveries may be supporting the dangerous views of Copernicus.

Narrator E: Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who, a century before, had said that Earth revolved around the sun. That was contrary to the church’s teachings.

Galileo: I’m only trying to learn how our universe works. Come, look through my telescope!

Castino: No! God made Earth to be His human home, and the sun and heavenly bodies to turn around it. It’s heresy to suggest otherwise!

Narrator A: Galileo’s observations prove to him that Copernicus was right—but he’s cautious about saying so. When he publishes a book about his findings, Starry Messenger, his reputation grows. But it also gains him enemies. Some report him to the Roman Inquisition, an official court created to root out heresy. Alarmed, Galileo goes to Rome in 1615 to defend himself. There, one of the church’s officials warns him.

Cardinal Robert Bellarmine: Your views have gotten you into deep trouble with the church.

Galileo: I don’t mean any disrespect. I’m just using the methods of observation and science to learn the truth—

Bellarmine (interrupting): I’ll tell you the truth! If your methods lead you to defend the theories of Copernicus, the Inquisition will imprison you—or worse. Another stargazer, Giordano Bruno, was burned at the stake a few years ago for doing the same thing you are.

Galileo (shaken): Of course. I’ll obey the holy church’s decisions.

Narrator B: Soon after, the Inquisition formally declares that the writings of Copernicus are heresy.

Narrator C: In Florence, where he now lives, Galileo has to be careful, but he quietly continues his research. In time, he again begins to write about and defend the methods of science. In 1626, Pope Urban VIII agrees to let him write a new book, but only if Copernicus’s views are discussed as theory instead of fact. Published in 1632, Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems gets an explosive reaction. At a meeting of the Pope’s inner circle . . .

Pope Urban VIII (furiously): Cardinal Verdi, tell the others what Galileo has written.

Cardinal Verdi: In the book, three people discuss theories about the movement of the universe.

Cardinal Sama: Theories? They present Copernicus’s heresy as if it were fact.

Pope: And he puts words of mine in the mouth of a simpleton he’s clearly ridiculing.

Narrator D: The Inquisition orders all copies of the book to be confiscated—and its author to stand trial in Rome for teaching heresy.

Narrator E: Galileo, by now 69 and in poor health, is terrified of what the Inquisition might do to him. On April 12, 1633, he is called to appear before a panel.

Inquisitor: You were told not to teach the theories of Copernicus as fact. Confess your guilt!

Galileo: But, sir, I did just as His Holiness the Pope instructed me.

Inquisitor: So it’s just the people in your book who speak heresy? Do you think we’re stupid?

Galileo (nervously): Of course not. I meant no harm.

Narrator A: He’s held prisoner, then summoned again on April 30.

Inquisitor: Your book is inflicting grave damage on the church.

Galileo: I would never harm the church! Perhaps I gave Coper­nicus’s ideas more emphasis than I should have.

Narrator B: Over the next two months, Galileo is called before the Inquisition two more times. Mean­while, he grows sicker and more frightened. Finally, on June 22 . . .

Bishop Dina: We have reached a verdict. We find you guilty of heresy.

Galileo: Please don’t hurt me! Forgive a tired old man.

Dina: Kneel and renounce your heresy!

Galileo: With all my heart I curse my errors. I will never again contradict the holy church.

Narrator C: The trials left Galileo a broken man. He spent the remaining years of his life under house arrest. But in the end, his ideas could not be ignored. In 1992, 350 years after his death, the Roman Catholic Church officially admitted that he had been right.

Narrator D: Today, Galileo’s contributions to modern science are considered indispensable. In 1989, when NASA launched a space probe to examine the mysteries of Jupiter and its moons, the probe was named Galileo.