Reflection 6

Being able to see the Vatican Observatory today was such an amazing experience! We got to see the balcony where the Pope gives his audiences when he's at this residence, the telescope used by the astronomers, and learn some history of battles fought around the property. One aspect I found interesting was Guy's discussion of why the Church needed to assert its pro-science position. Even though the issues with Copernicus and Galileo took place in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it wasn't until the nineteenth century that the rumors of their anti-science stance began to come out. Many countries in Europe had become unified in that century, and opened up private universities. However, not a lot of people wanted to pay to attend them, when they could go to the Church's universities for free. To combat this the private universities started rumors that the church was against science, and so their schools would not offer as good of an education. This idea stuck, and so now the Vatican has had to fix their image and show that they support scientific discovery. 

I also thought it was interesting that it was the priests who were acting as scientists in the pre-modern era. They were the only ones in the community with time and literacy, so it makes sense. Additionally, Guy told us about his background, first as an astronomer, and then as a Jesuit. This reminded me of what we learned in lecture. Namely, that Jesuits were encouraged to study other fields, not just theology. It is clear that the Church was not actually trying to hinder the work of scientists. Rather, they wanted to make sure what people like Galileo were saying was actually accurate before they supported it. I think it is important also to remember the times in which these churchmen were living. No one, even general lay people, would have automatically believed what they had been taught their whole life was wrong. Therefore, I do not think that it was an issue of the Pope trying to shut Galileo up, but rather that they just wanted to fully understand what was happening. Seeing the observatory today helped drive all of that home, and made me realize that the Church is continuing to evolve even today, in order to keep up with the new research that comes out of the scientific community.