Catholic Church Lifts Ban on Heliocentric Works

In 1758, the Catholic Church published a new edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum under Pope Benedict XIV, removing the general prohibition of works advocating heliocentrism as fact rather than hypothesis. This change came 142 years after the Roman Inquisition declared the Copernican theory heretical in 1616. Specific works by Copernicus and Galileo remained on the Index. The decision followed growing scientific consensus and widespread acceptance of Newtonian physics throughout Europe, making the Church's defense of geocentrism increasingly difficult to maintain.