Science and the Catholic Church

Perhaps one of the greatest contributions made by the Jesuits to science is the large network of observatories they founded across the world. Jesuits devised modern [[lunar nomenclature]] and [[Stellar classification#Secchi classes|stellar classification]] and some 35 craters of the moon are named after Jesuits. Historian Jonathan Wright writes that Jesuits "observed, in some cases before anyone else, the colored bands on Jupiter's surface, the Andromeda nebula, and Saturn's rings."{{cite book |first=Jonathan |last=Wright |title= The Jesuits |year=2004 |page=189}} Between 1824 and 1957, 75 observatories were founded by the Jesuits. In some countries in Asia and Africa, these observatories were the first scientific institutions they had ever had.{{Cite journal|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/jesuit-historiography-online/jesuit-contribution-to-science-18142000-a-historiographical-essay-COM_192552#d57467268e917|title=Jesuit Contribution to Science 1814–2000: A Historiographical Essay|last=Udías|first=Agustín|date=December 2016|journal=Jesuit Historiography Online|access-date=2018-07-25}}

Perhaps one of the greatest contributions made by the Jesuits to science is the large network of observatories they founded across the world. Jesuits devised modern [[lunar nomenclature]] and [[Stellar classification#Secchi classes|stellar classification]] and some 35 craters of the moon are named after Jesuits. Historian Jonathan Wright writes that Jesuits "observed, in some cases before anyone else, the colored bands on Jupiter's surface, the Andromeda nebula, and Saturn's rings."{{cite book |first=Jonathan |last=Wright |title= The Jesuits |year=2004 |page=189}} Between 1824 and 1957, 75 observatories were founded by the Jesuits. In some countries in Asia and Africa, these observatories were the first scientific institutions they had ever had.{{Cite journal|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/jesuit-historiography-online/jesuit-contribution-to-science-18142000-a-historiographical-essay-COM_192552#d57467268e917|title=Jesuit Contribution to Science 1814–2000: A Historiographical Essay|last=Udías|first=Agustín|date=December 2016|journal=Jesuit Historiography Online|access-date=2018-07-25}}

=== Science and salvation ===

{{further|Book of Nature#Christianity and Greek culture|Science and the Popes}}

{{Quote box|width=25%|quote="Philosophy [i.e. natural philosophy] is written in this grand book - I mean the Universe - which stands continually open to our gaze..."|source=[[Galileo Galilei]], ''[[The_Assayer#The_language_of_science|The Assayer]]'' (1623){{Cite book |last=Galilei |first=G. |url=https://www.mercaba.es/renacimiento/escritos_menores_de_galileo.pdf |title=Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo |publisher=Doubleday |year=1957 |editor-last=Drake |editor-first=S. |volume= |chapter=The Assayer |orig-date=1623}}

{{Quote box|width=25%|quote="Philosophy [i.e. natural philosophy] is written in this grand book - I mean the Universe - which stands continually open to our gaze..."|source=[[Galileo Galilei]], ''[[The_Assayer#The_language_of_science|The Assayer]]'' (1623){{Cite book |last=Galilei |first=G. |url=https://www.mercaba.es/renacimiento/escritos_menores_de_galileo.pdf |title=Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo |publisher=Doubleday |year=1957 |editor-last=Drake |editor-first=S. |volume= |chapter=The Assayer |orig-date=1623}}

"..the [[Scientific Revolution|new science]], with its methods and the freedom of research which they implied, obliged theologians to examine their own criteria of scriptural interpretation ... Galileo, a sincere believer, showed himself to be more perceptive in this regard than the theologians who opposed him." -[[Pope John Paul II]], ''On the Galileo Affair'' (1992){{cite web |last=John Paul II |first=Pope |title=Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on the conclusion of the 'Galileo Commission' |url=https://inters.org/John-Paul-II-conclusion-galileo-affair |website=Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science |publisher=Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research |date=31 October 1992 |access-date=May 22, 2024}}

"..the [[Scientific Revolution|new science]], with its methods and the freedom of research which they implied, obliged theologians to examine their own criteria of scriptural interpretation ... Galileo, a sincere believer, showed himself to be more perceptive in this regard than the theologians who opposed him." -[[Pope John Paul II]], ''On the Galileo Affair'' (1992){{cite web |last=John Paul II |first=Pope |title=Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on the conclusion of the 'Galileo Commission' |url=https://inters.org/John-Paul-II-conclusion-galileo-affair |website=Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science |publisher=Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research |date=31 October 1992 |access-date=May 22, 2024}}

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{{further|Book of Nature#Christianity and Greek culture|Science and the Popes}}

=== Science and salvation ===

In the early 17th century, Galileo lost two different arguments with the Church. His first argument, about natural philosophy, was whether the Earth moves. By 1835, however, Galileo had effectively won that argument when the Church removed all works related to heliocentrism from the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum''. Galileo's second argument, and arguably his more direct provocation to 17th century theologians and the one that more directly led to his arrest, was about the correct way of interpreting Scripture, which he discussed at length in his 1615 ''[[Letter_to_the_Grand_Duchess_Christina#Doctrine_of_Accommodation|Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina]]''. By 1893, however, he had won that argument as well.

In the early 17th century, Galileo lost two different arguments with the Church. His first argument, about natural philosophy, was whether the Earth moves. By 1835, however, Galileo had effectively won that argument when the Church removed all works related to heliocentrism from the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum''. Galileo's second argument, and arguably his more direct provocation to 17th century theologians and the one that more directly led to his arrest, was about the correct way of interpreting Scripture, which he discussed at length in his 1615 ''[[Letter_to_the_Grand_Duchess_Christina#Doctrine_of_Accommodation|Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina]]''. By 1893, however, he had won that argument as well.