Galileo Galilei facing the Roman Inquisition. Cristiano Banti

Heliocentric universe, Harmonia Macrocosmica Andreas Cellarius

The geocentric world view. From an Icelandic manuscript, written between 1747 and 1752. Haukurth

During the early 17th century, Galileo Galilei, an Italian physicist and astronomer, had a bitter scientific battle with the Catholic Church. Galileo openly supported heliocentrism – Earth revolving around the sun.Galileo was denounced during a Roman Inquisition , but was later dropped of all charges and was warned to discard all support for his scientific viewpoint. He promised to do this, but later defended heliocentrism in his 1632 work “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.”The Inquisition tried Galileo, he was found guilty, forced to recant and was under house arrest for his remaining years.He died at the age of 77 in 1642.The scientific and religious community accept the principles of heliocentrism, but one small religious movement is beginning to bring back the beliefs of geocentrism – Earth is the centre of the universe and all other objects orbit it.According to a report from the Chicago Tribune , a growing number of conservative Roman Catholics are utilizing the bible and church teachings as proof that the Earth is the centre of our universe.“[Heliocentrism] becomes dangerous if it is being propped up as the true system when, in fact, it is a false system,” said Robert Sungenis, an American Catholic apologist and leader of the movement. “False information leads to false ideas, and false ideas lead to illicit and immoral actions—thus the state of the world today.”So what proof does Sungenis maintain? One bible verse is Joshua 10:12-14 : “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, while the nation took vengeance on its foe. The sun halted in the middle of the sky; not for a whole day did it resume its swift course.”Last year, a conference called “Galileo Was Wong. The Church Was Right” was held near the University of Notre Dame campus. The conference was quite popular as both skeptics and supporters were in attendance.Astrophysicists who attended the conference were baffled by it.“It's an idea whose time has come and gone,” said Peter Garnavich, an astrophysics professor. “There are some people who want to move the world back to the 1950s when it seemed like a better time. These are people who want to move the world back to the 1250s.”He added that this is proof that there should be a separation between church and science.Sungenis, a man who has been accused of anti-semitism , also published a book where he attempts to discredit Galileo. In the book “Galileo Was Wrong,” Sungenis writes: “[people will] give Scripture its due place and show that science is not all it's cracked up to be.”Earlier this month, Sungenis had a Q&A session with Catholic International readers. One reader was putting forth the idea of geocentrism with work colleagues and the topic of ocean tides came up.“Yes, you are quite correct that the moon doesn’t have enough pull to pick up millions of tons of ocean water, but that is a fact that is rather hidden from public consumption,” replied Sungenis. “Current cosmology really has no explanation for earth’s tides. They are no further along than Galileo was when he said that the tides prove the earth rotates.”Founder of the Creation Museum in Kentucky, Ken Ham, told the Los Angeles Times that the bible is silent on the topic of geocentrism vs. heliocentrism. Ham explained that there is a big difference between the origin of our universe and observing their movements.“The Bible is neither geocentric or heliocentric,” said Ham. “It does not give any specific information about the structure of the solar system."