Catholic Church Positions

In response to “Earth Moves for Vatican in Galileo Case,” Nov. 1:

Pope John Paul II is to be commended for “revising” the Roman Catholic Church’s judgment on Galileo. Fortunately, the rest of the world has moved ahead instead of waiting 359 years for the Catholic Church to extricate itself from the corner it painted itself into. Astronomy and our knowledge of the universe have grown because other forces in the West, such as Protestant churches, the Scientific Revolution and political democracy, became ascendant. Imagine our space program and its contribution to winning the Cold War, if we had taken the Catholic Church’s position on Galileo!

On other issues we may not be so fortunate. The Roman Catholic Church has considerable influence in stifling the spread of birth control information, and we may not have 359 years before the rain forest is a desert, famine stalks all of Africa, and we are the only animal species left on the planet. If Catholic Church leaders have been so egregiously wrong in one instance, can we afford to let them control policy in other areas where national and world interests conflict with religious dogma?

MARJORIE H. HOLDEN

Manhattan Beach