Is geocentrism Catholic teaching?

Robert Sungenis, the Catholic apologist and author of Galileo Was Wrong, holds that geocentrism is Catholic teaching: the Church Fathers agreed on a motionless Earth, the Church condemned heliocentrism in 1616 and 1633 on that basis, and those decrees have never been formally reversed. **The consensus of the Fathers** *Galileo Was Wrong*, Volume 3 (12th ed.), Chapter 15, opens with St. Robert Bellarmine's 1615 letter to Foscarini, which Sungenis quotes: "Second, I say that, as you know, the Council prohibits interpreting Scripture against the common consensus of the Holy Fathers; and if Your Reverence wants to read not only the Holy Fathers, but also the modern commentaries on Genesis, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Joshua, you will find all agreeing in the literal interpretation that the sun is in heaven and turns around the earth with great speed, and that the earth is very far from heaven and sits motionless at the center of the world." The Council Bellarmine refers to is Trent. In the same volume Sungenis writes that "Cardinal Bellarmine informed Galileo that geocentrism was a 'matter of faith' and that the Church, based on the consensus of the Fathers, could not interpret Scripture in opposition to the same literal interpretation that had been passed down to it through the preceding centuries." **Why the Church acted against Galileo** In Chapter 16, "The Catholic Church's Teaching on Geocentrism," he sums up the reason: "the Church of Galileo's day rejected heliocentrism, and specifically a moving Earth, because geocentrism was the consensus of the Fathers and the literal interpretation of Scripture that was passed down for 1600 years prior." **The 1616 and 1633 decrees** In his reply to David Palm ("Debunking David Palm, Phase 3"), he lists what happened, including that "Pope Paul V in 1616 approved the recommendation of his cardinals that heliocentrism is formally heretical and/or erroneous in faith and contrary to Scripture." Pope Urban VIII then upheld that judgment against Galileo in 1633 and had the sentence sent to the nuncios and inquisitors of Europe. On how binding that was, Sungenis is careful. In *Galileo Was Wrong*, Volume 3, he writes: "From this evidence one could argue that such pervasive and regimented procedures were at least reasonably close to the criteria required for a binding and irreformable teaching." **Has the Church changed its position?** He answers no. In the same volume: "at no time has the Church ever formally and officially reversed the 17th century decrees against heliocentrism." And: "the fact remains that the 1633 doctrinal decision that heliocentrism was 'formally heretical' and 'erroneous in faith' has never been rescinded." He adds that "there is no Scripture, no Tradition and no Magisterial statement in all of the past two thousand years that either denies geocentric cosmology or promotes heliocentric cosmology." For the later history, see [How did the Church's position on heliocentrism change after Galileo, and why?](/qa/church-position-heliocentrism-after-galileo) and [Why does the Church no longer defend geocentrism?](/qa/why-church-no-longer-defends-geocentrism). For the biblical case, see [How do Scripture and Church tradition support geocentrism?](/qa/scripture-and-tradition-support-geocentrism).