Galileo Recants (June 22, 1633)

When faced with the almighty power of the Roman Catholic Church, Galileo recanted his belief that the earth revolves around the sun, and not the other way around. A man of science wouldn’t ordinarily do that. But when push comes to shove, he didn’t feel he had a choice.

According to Wikipedia, this was the judgement of the Church:

The sentence of the Inquisition was delivered on 22 June. It was in three essential parts:

• Galileo was found “vehemently suspect of heresy” (though he was never formally charged with heresy, relieving him of facing corporal punishment),^[157] namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He was required to “abjure, curse and detest” those opinions.
• He was sentenced to formal imprisonment at the pleasure of the Inquisition.^[162] On the following day, this was commuted to house arrest, under which he remained for the rest of his life.
• His offending Dialogue was banned; and in an action not announced at the trial, publication of any of his works was forbidden, including any he might write in the future.

Amen.