In 1633, the Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church forced Galileo Galilei, one of the founders of modern science, to recant his theory that the Earth moves around the Sun. Under threat of torture, Galileo – seen facing his inquisitors – recanted.

Galileo Galilei

Cardinal Francesco Barberini

Both scientists held the same theory that the Earth revolved around the sun, a theory now known to be true. However, the Church disapproved of this theory because the Holy Scriptures state that the Earth is at the center, not the Sun.

Galileo

Nicolaus Copernicus’s

Being burned at the stake was typical punishment for heresy. Protestants being burnt at the stake during the Reign of Queen Mary I. All over Europe, the punishment for heresy was not only death, but also the total destruction of the heretic’s corpse to prevent the use of their body parts for relics.

So far, however, the Roman Catholic Church is holding the line on Giordano Bruno, a rationalist philosopher who was burned at the stake for heresy 400 years ago today. The pope has marked this Holy Year as a time for the church to apologize for past errors and excesses, from the Inquisition to the persecution of Jews.

Anti-Protestantism originated in a reaction by the Catholic Church against the Reformation of the 16th century. Protestants were denounced as heretics and subject to persecution in those territories, such as Spain, Italy and the Netherlands in which the Catholics were the dominant power.

In July of that year, Luther got caught in a violent thunderstorm, in which a bolt of lightning nearly struck him down. He considered the incident a sign from God and vowed to become a monk if he survived the storm.

lutheranism was the first protestant faith.

Roman Catholic views of the Virgin Mary as refuge and advocate of sinners, protector from dangers and powerful intercessor with her Son, Jesus are expressed in prayers, artistic depictions, theology, and popular and devotional writings, as well as in the use of religious articles and images.

Catholics can get permission to marry in the Church of a partner who is not a Catholic if there are good reasons for doing so, for example, where a partner is an active member of his or her church community. In such a case, the Catholic partner will require a ‘Dispensation’ which the priest will apply for.

A marriage between a Catholic and a non-Christian (someone not baptized) is seen by the Church as invalid unless a dispensation (called a dispensation from “disparity of cult”, meaning difference of worship) is granted from the law declaring such marriages invalid.

Under the Catholic Church’s cannon law, marriages are meant to be performed by a Catholic priest inside either the bride or groom’s parish church. Barr added that priests can also request to marry a couple in a non-church wedding, as long as one is a confirmed Catholic and resides in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

A marriage may be declared invalid because at least one of the two parties was not free to consent to the marriage or did not fully commit to the marriage.