Galileo and Gitmo - By Scott Horton

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The absence of confrontation and the use of secret evidence. Galileo is given only vague and general information about the charges against him. He is not supplied with all the names of the witnesses who appeared before the Inquisition and testified against him. He therefore is unable to properly and credibly refute their charges, and the Inquisition takes as true a number of false statements. Secret evidence is the hallmark of the proceedings, including specifically the charge on which Galileo ultimately was convicted—of having failed to abide by an injunction that was imposed upon him following the first proceeding. However, the evidence that this injunction was imposed is at least very doubtful, and possibly even a forgery.

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The use of torture to extract false statements. Galileo was not tortured. But the record reveals that with the explicit authority of Pope Urban VIII, Galileo was subjected to questioning “under the formal threat of torture.” Why was the threat of torture used? Certainly not to elicit the truth from the subject, though that was the pretext for its use. Torture was threatened to insure that Galileo would do as his questioners wished, ultimately giving a formal and public denunciation of his own writings.

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The lack of independence in the tribunal; a pre-ordained result. The record shows that the idea that the tribunal that tried Galileo was acting as an impartial body committed to learning the truth and meting out a punishment is farcical. In fact, the proceedings were coordinated at each stage with the Pope and reflected his judgment. They were in the fullest sense rigged from start to conclusion. The trial served a political purpose—to enhance the power and authority of the Papacy. This is underscored by the curious fact that three of the cardinal-inquisitors refused to sign the sentence against Galileo, including the two most powerful figures on the body, Francesco Barberini and Gaspare Borgia.