The Deacon's Bench
That seems to be the argument put forth by some members of the Church, who are evidently affiliated with SSPX, and it gained some attention this weekend in the Chicago Tribune:
Some people believe the world revolves around them — and their belief is born not of selfishness but of faith.
A few conservative Roman Catholics are pointing to a dozen Bible verses and the church’s original teachings as proof that Earth is the center of the universe, the view that was at the heart of the church’s clash with Galileo Galilei four centuries ago.
The relatively obscure movement has gained a following among those who find comfort in knowing there are still staunch defenders of early church doctrine.
“This subject is, as far as I can see, an embarrassment to the modern church because the world more or less looks upon geocentrism, or someone who believes it, in the same boat as the flat Earth,” said James Phillips ofCicero, Ill.
Phillips attends Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Church in Oak Park, Ill., a parish run by the Society of St. Pius X, which rejects most of the modernizing reforms made by the Vatican II council from 1962 to 1965.
But by challenging modern science, proponents of a geocentric universe are challenging the very church they seek to serve and protect.
“I have no idea who these people are,” said Brother Guy Consolmagno, curator of meteorites and spokesman for the Vatican Observatory. “Are they sincere, or is this a clever bit of theater?”
Those promoting geocentrism argue that heliocentrism, or the centuries-old consensus among scientists that Earth revolves around the sun, is a conspiracy to squelch the church’s influence.
“Heliocentrism becomes dangerous if it is being propped up as the true system when, in fact, it is a false system,” said Robert Sungenis, leader of a budding movement to get scientists to reconsider. “False information leads to false ideas, and false ideas lead to illicit and immoral actions — thus the state of the world today.… Prior to Galileo, the church was in full command of the world, and governments and academia were subservient to her.”
Sungenis is no Don Quixote. Hundreds of curiosity seekers, skeptics and supporters attended a conference last fall titled “Galileo Was Wrong. The Church Was Right” near the University of Notre Dame campus inSouth Bend, Ind.
Astrophysicists at Notre Dame didn’t appreciate the group hitching its wagon to America’s flagship Catholic university and resurrecting a concept that’s extinct for a reason.
“It’s an idea whose time has come and gone,” astrophysics professor Peter Garnavich said. “There are some people who want to move the world back to the 1950s when it seemed like a better time. These are people who want to move the world back to the 1250s.”
Garnavich said the theory of geocentrism violates what he believes should be a strict separation of church and science. One answers why, the other answers how, and never the twain should meet, he said.
But supporters contend there is scientific evidence to support geocentrism, just as there is evidence to support the six-day story of creation in Genesis.
UPDATE: One of people quoted in the article above left the following in the combox:
“I am the James Phillips quoted in the article. I am a Roman Catholic, but as was correctly noted by Louis Tofari I do “not belong to the Society of St. Pius X.” It should additionally be noted that I have never represented to anyone in anyway that I belong to the the Society of St. Pius X.
It is unfortunate that so many, including Catholics, resort to all kinds of derision, ridicule, mockery, sarcasm, and slandering (even calumny) when the subject of Galileo and geocentrism comes up. This is not always seen on Catholic sites, but it is abundantly so on secular ones. Ironically, it is often the case that in the name of science these skeptics of geocentrism approach what they would like to consider as a strictly scientific subject in a most unscientific way.
For those who have not strictly closed their mind to accepting the possibility (and indeed the probability!) of geocentrism via a close examination of the scientific evidence a visit to http://www.galileowaswrong.com as well as http://www.geocentrism.com may well prove most welcoming and beneficial. In the book Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right (seen at these sites) Drs. Sungenis and Bennett analyze and thoroughly refute every major objection to geocentrism put forth by the scientific establishment (that same scientific establishment that has so pretentiously delivered to us the frog to prince evolution fairytale).
Christians especially would do well to pay a visit to http://www.scripturecatholic.com/geocentrism.html the site of eminent Catholic Apologist John Salza. In finishing my post here I can do no better than quote from a section of that site: “While it is permissible for Christians to hold the heliocentric view, heliocentrism can only be advanced as a theory, not a certainty (because neither heliocentrism nor geocentrism can be scientifically proven definitively). In fact, three Popes (Paul V, Urban VIII and Alexander VII) have officially declared that heliocentrism is opposed to Sacred Scripture, and condemned the notion that heliocentrism was a truth to be believed with certainty. Instead, the Scriptures, the Apostolic Tradition and teachings of the Church support a geocentric cosmology vis-à-vis a heliocentric one. Nota Bene: I am a faithful Catholic, not a scientist. I am obedient to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. When presented with a question of faith (such as how God created the universe), I look to the Scriptures, the Tradition and the teachings of the Catholic Church for the answer. I do not rely upon modern scientists who have been unable to prove heliocentrism and disprove geocentrism, especially those who deny the inerrancy of Scripture and generally abhor the Catholic faith.”
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