Galileo Galilei Faces the Vatican
When one of the Fathers of Modern Science was called before the Inquisition, the two often competing worlds of science and religion squared. On Apr. 12, 1633 Galileo was ordered to the Holy Office to be tried for holding the belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun, a belief deemed heretical by the Catholic Church. (Despite the fact that a number of scholars had argued for years that the Earth revolved around the sun, the church maintained that its geo-centric view of the universe was an absolute fact of scripture and could not be challenged.) Though before the Pope's Order Galileo denied his Copernican views, he continued to write about the issue and provide evidence to support his claim. Thus on June 22, the Church handed down an order convicting Galileo of heresy. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest. More than 300 years later, the Church admitted Galileo was right and cleared his name of heresy.