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A few remarks on Robert Lockwood’s article on the Galileo affair ("The Anti‐Catholic’s Trump Card," July‐August 2009). It was admirable to see him try to defend the Church, but it wasn't convincing. The questions he never answers are: How could the Church of the 17th century, guided by the Holy Spirit, be so deceived in the very magisterial ranks it reveres as the protector of truth? How could the Church be led to believe that the Earth’s motion or non‐motion was a matter of faith and morals if it wasn't so? Did the Holy Spirit decide to forsake the popes and cardinals of the 17th century? Lockwood provides no answers. Although he admits the Church convicted Galileo in 1633 of being "vehemently suspect of heresy," he fails to reveal why. The reason was that the same tribunal had earlier declared heliocentrism "formally heretical." Galileo was only "suspected" rather than "guilty" because the tribunal couldn't determine whether he really believed it.
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