Starry Messenger (picture book) Vatican Church, he was forced to retract his earlier statements that contradicted with the ideologies of the Vatican Church regarding the placement of the Earth, or risk death. Galileo chose to retract his statements and was confined to house arrest for eight years before his death in 1642. The book ends on a positive note when Sis writes about the Pardon that was issued to Galileo more than three hundred years later in October 1992. Peter Sis’s documentation of the acclaimed scientist, Galileo Galileo’s life received positive reviews from: "Kirkus Reviews", "Booklist", "School Library Journal" and more. "The New York
Christianity in the 13th century a papal legate was murdered by the Cathars in 1208, Pope Innocent III declared the Albigensian Crusade. Abuses committed during the crusade caused Innocent III to informally institute the first papal inquisition to prevent future aberrational practices and to root out the remaining Cathars. Formalized under Pope Gregory IX, this Medieval inquisition executed an average of three people per year for heresy at its height. Over time, other inquisitions were launched by the Church or secular rulers to prosecute heretics, to respond to the threat of Moorish invasion or for political purposes. The accused were encouraged to recant their heresy