The fact is that the Catholic Church has handled the Galileo affair in accordance with her perennial canons of canonical interpretation. When read strictly, the 1633 decree addresses only Copernicanism as a unity and does not define Copernicanism as a formal heresy or as contrary to the faith, but only as “contrary to Scripture”. And the most plausible reason for judging it to be “contrary to Scripture” is on the basis of perceived violations of natural philosophy (i.e. science). But as that objection has been more than adequately overcome, it no longer applies to any modern cosmological views. As such, the 1633 decree is an ecclesiastical dead letter, applying to no extant view and no living person.
This answers both the modern critic and the modern geocentrists. The modern critic wants to show that the Catholic Church has been inconsistent in first forbidding and then allowing non-geocentric views. But there is no inconsistency if the 1633 decree is read according to the Church’s perennial canons of canonical interpretation.
The modern geocentrists, on the other hand, appear zealous to uphold the integrity of the Catholic Church’s teaching. But when they’re faced with the fact that the Church very clearly allows and even promotes the dissemination of non-geocentric views, they have to fall back on allegations of conspiracy, sabotage, and subterfuge. They must argue that the entire Catholic hierarchy has been hoodwinked, infiltrated, or incompetent. They have to hold that this view, which they (erroneously, as we’ve seen) consider to be a “formal heresy”, has not merely been tolerated, but actively promoted by bishops and even popes. In essence, for all their claims to be good Catholics who are merely upholding the integrity of the Magisterium, in reality their position ultimately relies on the supposition that the entire Catholic body—head and members—has fallen into abject apostasy and remained so for centuries. As such, there is little practical difference between the modern geocentrist and the modern critic of the Church.
Fortunately, none of the fantasy, paranoia and intrigue that issues forth from the fertile geocentrist imagination is necessary in order to explain what happened in the Galileo affair. The Magisterium of the Catholic Church has never put forth geocentrism or any other cosmological view as a matter of faith. A strict interpretation of the 1633 decree logically brings us to the conclusion that it no longer applies, nor will it ever apply, to any person. It’s an ecclesiastical dead letter. In a nutshell, you can go right back to ignoring the geocentrists and not lose any sleep over it at all.
