The Church reacts to the observations of early astronomy (seventeenth century Galileo Inquisition):
“The first proposition, that the sun is the center and does not revolve about the earth, is foolish, absurd, false in theology, and heretical, because contrary to Holy Scripture…the second proposition, that the earth is not the center but revolves about the sun, is absurd, false in philosophy, and, from a theological point of view at least, opposed to the true faith.” — 1615 Galileo Inquisition pronouncement.
“The opinion of the earth’s motion is of all heresies the most abominable, the most pernicious, the most scandalous; the immovability of the earth is thrice sacred; argument against the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and the incarnation, should be tolerated sooner than the argument to prove that the earth moves.” — Jesuit Father Melchior Inchofer (1631).
“Animals, which move, have limbs and muscles; the earth has no limbs or muscles, therefore it does not move.
It is angels who make Saturn, Jupiter, the Sun, etc., turn around. If the earth revolves, it must have an angel in the centre to set it in motion; but only devils live there; it would therefore be a devil who would impart motion to the earth.
The planets, the sun, the fixed stars, all belong to one species-namely that of stars – they therefore all move or all stand still. It seems, therefore, to be a grievous wrong to place the earth, which is a sink of impurity, among these heavenly bodies, which are pure and divine things.” — Scipio Chiariamonti, associate of Cardinal Barberini.