Ever wonder why Galileo really caved in to the Church?
Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmine
Maffeo Barberini, scion of one of the wealthiest, most powerful families in Italy, a Cardinal too—one day to be Pope, Bellarmine was sure—removed a grape pit from his tongue. “Only what you already know—he is right.”
“Pity more of our people cannot grasp that,” Bellarmine said. “The nonsense that has been produced in our own College—that the Moon is really pure, perfect, sublimely spherical as Aristotle held, and the mountains and craters seen through Galileo’s telescope are but imperfections far below that heavenly invisible surface—you would think it was 615 not 1615, and Rome had just been sacked of all common sense, all reason!”
“Ah, yes.” Barberini chuckled. “And, as I recall, Galileo had a good answer to that one: if we accept that heavenly surfaces are invisible, then we could just as easily agree that the real surface of the Moon, constructed of that same magical substance, actually rises in towering mountains ten times
“He is clever,” Bellarmine said, unsmiling. “And that is what makes him dangerous. I have tried to convey to him the thought, the path, that his mathematics, his observations, may be right—that we may welcome them, rejoice in them, as an improvement over Ptolemy’s epicycles—but that the underlying, everlasting truth is just as it ever was.”
“And what truth is that?” Barberini asked.
“That is no doubt the question that troubles Galileo,” Bellarmine replied, “and why he sometimes gives the appearance of accepting our arguments, yet in his truest soul rejects them. It is because we ourselves are unsure of just what the underlying, everlasting truth really is.”
“As we have good reason to be,” Barberini said. “But that is our burden—not the world’s. And part of our burden is to keep the world—not only the physical world, but the souls of its people—stable.”
“Which brings us back to the problem of Galileo,” Bellarmine said, sadly. “His theories, his publications, presented to the world without our mediation, cannot help but sow confusion in the common soul.”
“Have you implied to him anything at all of the Instruments?” Barberini asked, as delicately as he could manage.
“No! I have not! Therein lies the road that was taken with Giordano Bruno. And it did no good—it did worse than no good. In the end…” Bellarmine could not bring himself to finish.
“In the end, our Holy Church had to kill him,” Barberini said. “Still, the result need not be the same with Galileo. He is a different kind of man—more practical, more of a scientist than a mystic like Bruno. He may see a different kind of lesson in the Instruments.”
“No,” Bellarmine insisted. “I will not have it.”
Barberini permitted himself the slightest of smiles.
“You are a stubborn man,” Bellarmine said to Galileo.
“Stubbornness has nothing to do with this, Your Eminence,” Galileo replied. “Truth is what this is about. I can say ‘the Earth does not move,’ as easily as the next man. But if, in truth, the Earth does move, then it matters not what I say. For in time others will make the same observations as I, and they will say that the Earth does move. And where will our Holy Church be then?”
“You are stubborn because you assume that future telescopes, perhaps with power far greater than yours, will see the same things in the heavens as your device,” Bellarmine answered. “How can you be sure of that?”
“I am not sure of that,” Galileo said. “Devices change, and so then does the knowledge they produce.”
“Precisely,” Bellarmine said. “The only thing constant in this world is the Lord’s word, and the only constant path towards that is the Church’s teaching.”
“Yes, but if device A contradicts the Church’s teaching, then even though it may be improved upon at some future time by device B, then ought we not at least consider the evidence of device A at this time?”
Bellarmine looked away. “Devices,” he said at last. “Believe me, there are more devices in this Universe than you, with or without your telescope, have ever dreamed of.”
Galileo squirmed. “Are you referring to the Instruments? Do you seek to intimidate me by intimations of your Instruments of Torture?”
Bellarmine said nothing.
“I am a weak vessel,” Galileo continued. ‘I might well sooner lie about what I know to be true than be subjected to your torture. But what would that gain you in the end? Do you suppose you can torture the whole world—impose your will on every human eye that looks at the heavens through a lens?”
“I was hoping you might be persuaded—not by torture, but by reason itself—to see the dangers in the way you proselytize your theories,” Bellarmine replied. “I was hoping that once so convinced, we might even enlist you to help in our cause—explain to the world that, although science always progresses, always changes, the soul and its place in the Universe remains constant, remains forever, and our Holy Church is the only reliable guide to that.”
“Forgive me, Eminence—but I fear it’s the Church that is treading on the domain of science here, not vice versa, in your insistence that the Earth is the unmoving center of the Universe. And you have no evidence that the Copernican theory, which my telescopic observations support, is wrong.”
Bellarmine sighed. “Suppose I showed you evidence.”
Galileo scoffed. “What, in the Holy Bible?”
“No,” Bellarmine said very quietly. “In Instruments perhaps not ultimately unlike your telescope—Instruments of vision. Dangerous Instruments—far more dangerous than your telescopes.” He wrung his hands. “I had hoped not to have to speak to you of this. But I see there is no other way.”
Galileo shuddered. “You are speaking to me again of torture? Of burning out my eyes?”
“No, not of torture—at least, not of physical torture, I assure you,” Bellarmine replied. “Please, come with me.”
“We think they are a kind of illuminated manuscript,” Bellarmine said. “Except, the words can be changed upon them.”
Galileo stared at one of the devices, in rapt attention. “The writing appears to be Italian.”
“Latin editions are also available,” Bellarmine advised. “Many in vulgate as well. A few are familiar to us, most not.”
“Each of these—manuscript Instruments—contains a different edition?” Galileo asked. They were three in the room.
“No,” Bellarmine said. “Each Instrument contains many different editions—just as each tree contains many different leaves. But each of these Instruments appears to contain the
“Ah,” Galileo mused. “Such as three libraries, perhaps, each of which contains the same editions?”
Bellarmine nodded. “Yes. Perhaps.”
Galileo studied the words on the glass—they were a treatise, of some sort, about Copernican theory.
“This essay talks of planets,” he said. “Do these manuscripts have pictures, engravings lit from within, like the illumined Books of Hours?”
“Yes,” Bellarmine replied. “Except these Instruments truly display a passage of time—they show pictures of things I think no man, truly, has ever seen.”
Galileo’s eyes lit up brighter than the manuscript. “Prester John’s Speculum, come to life!”
Bellarmine made a sarcastic sound. “Prester John is an old wives’ tale, designed to give hope to children. These Instruments, as you can see, are plainly real.”
“Yes, yes, I see that,” Galileo said, growing more and more excited as he read the text. “And this treatise has some connection to my work…”
“More than you realize,” Bellarmine said. “Touch that emblem.” He gestured to one of many little multi-colored ovals that occupied the margins of the text. This one contained a tiny, stylized arrow that pointed up. “It will cause the manuscript to scroll backward, to the beginning.”
Galileo did as told. The text slowly scrolled, until it came to what was clearly a title page.
Galileo gasped.
The title read,
“Clever forgery!” Galileo exclaimed, half in anger, half in admiration. “So your scribes at the College seek to publish some confusing document under my name, and therein mislead the world about my real contentions!”
“I think it is not a forgery,” Bellarmine said, “or, at least, something not as simple as a forgery. I think you will agree, if you read on.”
But Galileo turned away from the text, and focused instead on Bellarmine. “It is a Dialog about the Two Chief World Systems, purportedly written by me, except I did not write it. Therefore, it must be a forgery.”
Bellarmine shook his head no. “I think you would do better to say, not that you did not write it, but you did not write it yet.”
“Preposterous,” Galileo said. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Would it surprise you to know that I read your
“Forgive me, Eminence—that cannot be true!” But Galileo’s mouth hung open.
“I assure you it is,” Bellarmine said. “You see, I have been an admirer of yours—albeit secret—for quite some time. Perhaps even longer than you.”
Galileo harrumphed, and looked back at the text on the Instrument.
“I grant you, of course, that there is no way I can conclusively prove what I have just told you,” Bellarmine allowed, “not about seeing
“The outside world in contrast to what other world?” Galileo asked. “In contrast to this illuminated world—this, moving manuscript lit from within? What is this, then, a portal on to the Platonic world of eternal truth and verity? That world is a figment of imagination far greater than Prester’s Speculum!”
Bellarmine ventured a small truth in jest. “Oh, I would say there is little chance of the information contained in the Instrument being eternally true, my friend, if you or any mortal wrote it.”
Galileo looked fitfully at the text. “What other manuscripts does this Instrument contain?” He jabbed another emblem.
The text disappeared. “Oh no!”
“Do not be alarmed,” Bellarmine said, and leaned over Galileo’s shoulder. “At least, there is no need to be concerned about the words disappearing.” He touched a third emblem. The words returned. “You see, they are easily recalled. Here,” he said, gesturing to another oval. “That one makes the text proceed forward. The one underneath speeds it to the very end. You will find at the end of your text a listing of other authors whose works are within the Instrument.”
Galileo touched the speed-to-the-end symbol—a miniature of Mercury, god of thievery as well as speed. Words flew upward on the screen, like souls freed from hell. Finally, a profusion of proper names settled into stability at the end of the document.
Galileo looked, muttered. “Most of these are not known to me,” he said.
“Try that one,” Bellarmine offered.
And his finger pointed to: Einstein.
Galileo stayed in the room with the Instruments, poring over their contents, for nine days and nights.
Bellarmine brought him food and drink and consolation.
“I think I have read enough,” Galileo said at last.
“Good,” Bellarmine replied. “The word outside is that we are torturing you, or have killed you, or are threatening to do one or both. It would be helpful if you could show your face and assure everyone that you are unharmed.”
“But I am not unharmed,” Galileo said. “My soul has been fed to the breaking point. I will never be the same.”
“Ah, yes, well, this is the price we pay for knowledge, is it not? This is the price you want the whole world to pay—a world of people with intellects far feebler than yours—when you feed them your theories, your theories which you are so sure are true, about the Earth and the heavens. Except, you are not so sure any more, are you?”
“No, I am not,” Galileo said, with profound fatigue.
“You need not worry for your physical being—nor even for the survival of your soul,” Bellarmine said softly. “Others before you have seen these Instruments—not many, but others—and most have survived.”
“Others? Who?” Galileo asked.
“Well, I told you that I first saw this sixteen years ago, and I am still here, and alive.”
“Yes, but I meant—”
“I know what you meant,” Bel-larmine said. He pondered for a moment. “Leonardo da Vinci saw these Instruments—he studied them for years—I suppose there is no harm in telling you that.”
“Yes, that would make sense,” Galileo said. “He is rumored to have made sketches, extraordinary, of flying devices, machines that could live under the sea…”
“The rumors are true,” Bellarmine said.
“But where did you get these Instruments? How long have they been here?”
“That I am unable to tell you, not because I do not want to, but because we honestly do not know,” Bellarmine said. “Some say Marco Polo brought them back from Cathay. But there is no real evidence of that. The first definite record we have of them here is in 1357. The three of them. Why three? Maybe as protection in case one or two of them were lost. Who knows. The first people who read the words within could barely understand what they meant. Oh, they understood some of the Ancients. But when they came upon you—Galileo Galilei—they had as much comprehension of you as you do of Albert Einstein.”
Galileo trembled. “I understood not much of Einstein—most of his mathematics is beyond me. But I grasped some of Isaac Newton, and from that vantage point, and what little of Einstein I could comprehend, I can see that my work is…”
Bellarmine shook his head sympathetically.
“I can see that the notion that the Sun is the center of our system is… is a
“Good,” Bellarmine said. “My faith in your judgment has not been misplaced.”
“So much knowledge to be had here,” Galileo said, rubbing his eyes and looking again at the Instrument. “Will I be permitted to return?”
“Perhaps,” Bellarmine said. “We shall see.”
“But our problem remains,” Galileo said. “Even if I renounce what I have said, even if I publish not another word about my telescopic observations and their support of Copernicus, that will not stop others from following in the path I have started.”
“We do not want you to renounce anything—not now,” Bellarmine said. “Word, of course, will indeed spread about your discoveries and your theories. We know that from the Instruments. We cannot stop that. Nor do we want to. What we want is to make sure, as much as possible, that word reaches the people at the right time, in the right way—when their souls are ready to accept it.”
“But how?” Galileo asked.
Bellarmine put his hand on Galileo’s shoulder. “Leave the details to us. You can continue writing and publishing as you have been doing—but try to take care to make sure you distinguish between science and its explanation of appearances, and faith and its explanation of the way things truly are. In time, you will write your
Galileo nodded. “Yes.”
“Do not worry,” Bellarmine said. “We will provide you with instructions—detailing just when you should write your treatises, just when you should appear obstinate, just when you should give in. Leave it all to us.”
“Yes,” Galileo said.
“A fine wine,” Bellarmine said, and offered a glass to Barberini.
“And a fine day too, judging by your countenance,” Barberini replied. “I take it all went well with Galileo. I told you the Instruments were the best way to proceed.”
“Well, we must be aware of the deceptively easy wisdom of hindsight,” Bellarmine said. “Our brethren showed Bruno the Instruments too, and his reaction was very different from Galileo’s. He was uncontrollable. He had to be burned, as you know. Just a year after I had become a Cardinal. That was terrible. It should never have happened. It must never happen again.”
“But you seem sure that Galileo is on the right path,” Barberini said.
“Oh, I am very sure of that,” Bellarmine replied.
Barberini looked at him with just the slightest quizzical expression.
“You know, our people are constantly studying the Instruments—our small, select group—trying to understand how they work, the limits of what they convey, where they might have come from,” Bellarmine explained. “We have learned some things. The texts sometimes change—very slightly, but we have made records of originals, of some of the listings, and, once in a while, we notice something new, something that was not there before.”
“Yes, I believe I heard of that fluctuation,” Barberini said. “Almost as if events we have influence over here have some effect on the texts in the Instruments. Well, that makes sense, does it not, because we in the past are of course creating our future.”
Bellarmine smiled. Barberini definitely had not only the family, and the wealth, but the intellect to be Pope.
“That is so,” Bellarmine said.
“So, something in the Instruments, some change in the text, perhaps, tells you that we are on the right path with Galileo?” Barberini pressed.
“Yes,” Bellarmine replied. “I checked all of the listings under my name just this morning—I do that from time to time. And I found a new one—one I am sure had not been there before.”
“Yes?”
“It seems to have been authored almost 400 years from now,” Bellarmine said.
“Yes?”
“It is a brief piece, in fictional form—like many of our contemporary dialogues—entitled, ‘Advantage, Bellarmine.’ ”