Pope Benedict XVI has cancelled a visit to a prestigious university in Rome where lecturers and students have protested against his views on Galileo. The Pope had been set to make a speech at La Sapienza University on Thursday. Sixty-seven academics had said the Pope condoned the 1633 trial and conviction of the astronomer Galileo for heresy. The Vatican insists the Pope is not ‘anti-science’ – but in light of the protests they have decided it would be better for him not to attend. Galileo had argued that the Earth revolved around the Sun. The Vatican says the Pope will now send his speech to La Sapienza, instead of delivering it in person. Landmark controversy Pope Benedict was in charge of Roman Catholic doctrine in 1990 when, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he commented on the 17th-Century Galileo trial. In the speech, he quoted Austrian-born philosopher Paul Feyerabend as saying the Church’s verdict against Galileo had been ‘rational and just’. Galileo’s inquisitors maintained the scriptures indicated the Earth was stationary. Galileo, a devout Catholic, was forced to renounce his findings publicly. Fifteen years ago Pope John Paul II officially conceded […]