WHO IS AFRAID OF WHO?

"For the second time in seven years the Vatican is hosting a scientific conference for astronomers. More than 200 scientists from 26 countries including the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Japan have gathered in Rome for a five-day meeting on disc galaxies. ...Why does the Vatican fund astronomical research after centuries of public dispute over the relative roles of science and religion? Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, a member of Father Funes's team and curator of one of the world's most important collections of meteorites, kept at Castelgandolfo (the Pope's summer residence), explains.
"They want the world to know that the Church isn't afraid of science," he said." (BBC News, 1 October)
In the 17th century it was this church that was persecuting and executing scientists. Galileo was tried for heresy by the Inquisition because his findings contradicted the scriptures. It was not until the reign of Pope John Paul II - nearly four centuries later - that the Catholic Church finally admitted that Galileo had been right and he was officially rehabilitated. RD