What is geocentrism?

Geocentrism is the view that the Earth sits fixed at the center of the universe while the sun, moon and stars move around it. Robert Sungenis, the Catholic apologist and author of Galileo Was Wrong and Geocentrism for Dumskies, defends this view from Scripture, the Church Fathers and the Church's own dealings with Copernicus and Galileo. **The definition** In *Geocentrism for Dumskies* (2nd ed., Jan 2024), Sungenis defines the term this way: "The prefix 'Geo' stands for Earth, and the root, 'centrism,' means the Earth is fixed in the center of the universe and the sun and stars go around it each day." Its opposite is heliocentrism, which puts the sun at the center. In the same book he explains that the Greeks who proposed a moving Earth "knew both the Geocentric and Heliocentric systems could produce the same appearances of sunrise and sunset, but they also knew only one of them could be the true reality." **What is fixed and what moves** In *Galileo Was Wrong*, Volume 2 (12th ed.), Chapter 10, "Technical and Summary Analysis of Geocentrism," he puts it plainly: "Geocentrism says only the Earth doesn't move; the rest of the cosmos does." **Why he holds it** His argument rests first on the Church Fathers. In his article "Sixty Ways to Refute a Catholic Heliocentrist," he summarizes their consensus in these words: "The Fathers always say the Earth is at rest at the center of the universe." He adds that Leo XIII, in *Providentissimus Deus*, taught that "it is permitted to no one to interpret Holy Scripture against such sense or also against the unanimous agreement of the Fathers" (quoted in his "Open Letter to David Palm for a Public Debate on Geocentrism"). For Sungenis, that makes the Fathers' agreement on the Earth at rest binding on Catholics. For his fuller reasoning, see his answer to [What is the single biggest reason you believe in geocentrism?](/qa/what-is-the-single-biggest-reason-you-believe-in-geocentrism-cfd097), and the related answers on [redshift and geocentrism](/qa/in-what-ways-does-redshift-lead-to-geocentrism-0fb98b) and [Scripture and Tradition on geocentrism](/qa/scripture-and-tradition-support-geocentrism).