In 1989, Pope John Paul II rehabilitated the scientist Galileo Galilei. It took the Catholic Church more than 350 years to recognize the obvious: the Earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around.
Galileo, an outstanding Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, was a staunch supporter of the heliocentric model of the world, discovered by Copernicus in the 16th century. For this, the Inquisition accused him of heresy and godlessness.
The scientist was tried, tortured and kept under house arrest for the rest of his life.
Galileo appealed to the Pope more than once, but justice prevailed only in the XX century. John Paul II acknowledged the error of the verdict of the Inquisition and apologized to the late thinker.
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