Vatican Puts ‘Burning At Stake’ in Context

THE NEW YORK TIMES, Feb. 18—On the 400th anniversary of the burning of heretic philosopher Giordano Bruno, agnostics crowded his tomb in the Campo dei Fiori in Rome to honor a man they regard as a hero, the Times reported.

The Vatican took the opportunity to express regret over the incident, but also to teach. Bruno's Feb. 17, 1600, death is viewed, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano said, with “profound regret” by the modern Church. He added, however, that it was not up to modern Church leaders to pass judgment on the motives of those who sentenced Bruno.

Bruno's errors were no triflings. He questioned the Trinity and the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother and claimed that Jesus was a wizard, reported the Times.

In a message to an Italian conference, Cardinal Sodano said that those who judged Bruno were “animated by a desire to serve the truth and promote the common good, while trying to save his life.”

While the Times was careful to note that the year he was burned for refusing to recant heretical teachingswas also a Holy Year, the newspaper acknowledged that Bruno's eight-year-long trial was carried out according to the common legal practices of the day.