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These are fascinating reads, Casini. Thanks for posting.

1945: Vita e Opere di Galileo Galilei

Two years later, in 1945, Fr Paschini finished his book Vita e Opere di Galileo Galilei. Pio Paschini was a seminary professor of the highest integrity, well used to researching docuмents in the various Vatican libraries. Working through the war years 1942 to 1944 he completed his thesis and submitted his book to the Vatican authorities for their attention prior to its publication. The first hurdle to achieving this was the Vatican Secretariat of State where Deputy Secretary Giovanni Battista Montini (the future Pope Paul VI) was in favour of publication. He in turn however had to put the matter in the hands of the Holy Office which would make the final decision whether the book could be published or not. Pope Pius XII, who it seems was also in favour of publication at first, sought the collective opinion of the Holy Office. The assessor of the time was Monsignor Alfredo Ottaviani (1890-1979), and it was he who decided the book was ‘unsuitable for publication.’ In 1979, a group of Italian scholars researching the history of this book in Paschini’s extensive correspondence on the matter, uncovered the reason why Rome censored the thesis. It turned out that while all agreed the book was factual, it was not considered ‘politically correct’ as far as the now Copernican Rome was concerned. Paschini it seems; simply wrote down the Galileo case as it happened. The problem then was that once churchmen accepted Galileo was proven correct in faith and science, the Church just could not come out of recorded history in any way other than ‘guilty as charged.’ The last thing Rome wanted then was a book confirming and reminding a Copernican world of exactly what occurred in 1616 and the Church’s condemnation of Galileo in 1633. Paschini was asked to tone down certain aspects of his book. He was willing to do so in certain unimportant places but not with regard to its details as he read them from the archives. A year later, in 1946, the Holy Office told him his book was not going to be published and offered him money as compensation. Paschini was rightly devastated. He immediately shelved his book and returned to his career as before. Fr Pio Paschini died in 1962 never having edited his book.

Quote from: cassini

Fr Pio Paschini (1878-1962), president of the Lateran University at the time.

Finocchiaro's book, Retrying Galileo: 1633-1992 (pp. 318-319), says Pope St. Pius X

Quote from: Galileo scholar Maurice Finocchiaro

personally chose Paschini [for the Roman Seminary], whom he admired for his integrity, scholarship, teaching ability, and orthodoxy; with regard to the latter, by that time Paschini had been able to convince his superiors that he was no modernist.

the “letters” of the most Rev. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange...constitute a special archive which is still under the pontifical care and secret, since the correspondence of Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange treats and involves a very important and decisive period of the modern Church and, in particular, of the Holy See. Thus, some time will have to pass before this “material” can be placed at the disposition of scholars.