Big bang Quote by Michael Coren
““Actually, what we really need to remember about Galileo is that most of the people who use his name in argument could barely spell it, let alone tell us what actually happened to the man. His case is used over and over again because critics can't think of any other scientists who were mistreated by the Church. And in this instance they're right. There may have been some people in the scientific world who did not enjoy Church support and were even challenged by Catholicism but, sorry to disappoint, there weren't very many of them. The Church has been the handmaiden of science and scientific discovery, and those who refer to Galileo tend to forget that Louis Pasteur, the inventor of pasteurization, was a devout Catholic, as was Alexander Fleming, who gave us penicillin. Or Father Nicolaus Copernicus, who first proposed the theory of the earth revolving around the sun - this was precisely what Galileo stated, but Copernicus taught it as theory and not fact. Or Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Leuven, who proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe. In the field of acceleration, Fr. Giambattista Riccioli changed the way we understand that particular science; the father of modern Egyptology was Fr. Athanasius Kircher, and the Yugoslavian Fr. Roger Boscovich was the founder of modern atomic theory.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Public commentary on science and religion, 2020
The quote argues that many critics misuse Galileo’s story, overlooking the Catholic Church’s historical support for science and notable Catholic scientists.
In simple terms: Critics often misrepresent Galileo, ignoring Catholic contributions to science.
Recognize the nuanced relationship between faith and science.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- debates on science policy
- education curricula
- interfaith dialogue
- media analysis
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How does acknowledging Catholic scientists affect your view of religion?
- What are other examples of faith influencing science?
The Church has also suppressed scientific ideas at times, showing the relationship is complex.