Quite a few flat earth believers have posted since this appeared and presumably have read it, as well as my post containing what I actually wrote on SD.  Not one of you has had anything to say about the lack of truth to Smedley's claims.  I did not brag.  I did not use the word "dumb".  I did not state that flat earth folks are not real Catholics nor that they are faking their beliefs.

The only person to call out Smedley for his falsehoods has been Ladislaus.

I have seen many claims from flat earth believers that they are motivated by their desire for truth.  I would find these claims more credible if you seemed to care that someone is lying to you about my SD post, apparently for the purpose of inciting a mob against me.  Where is your desire for truth now?

You would not have told the flat earthers here you were studying them like zoo animals to report back there to gossip about them.
You're just whining because you got caught, which you didn't plan for.
You disrespect the good will of the flat earth folks here who are willing to honestly engage those who disagree with them.

"BRING IT ON. WE WILL FLATTEN YOU." :applause:

The Catholic Church teaches us to discover the shape of the earth by using science rather than reading meanings into Scripture that it was never intended to have.

Excuse me? It would do you well to not make stuff up.  Where did you get such a notion that the Church teaches such a ridiculous thing?  
Ah, I actually know where you got it.  From the fallout of the Galileo Affair designed to destroy Faith.  Because you reject the teachings of the Holy Office.  You say it yourself constantly.  But in your statement above, you've relegated Scripture to obscurity, suggesting that on this matter it is cryptic nonsense no one can understand, all because you prefer the pagan science the Church condemned.  

Pope Leo XIII's teaching in Providentissimus Deus (1893) was not a reference to the shape of the earth but a general principle of Scriptural exegesis that applies to all matters of the physical order.  It was explicitly reiterated and confirmed by Pope Pius XII in Divino Afflanto Spiritu (1943):Here is a paraphrase:
Sacred writers when speaking of things of the physical order referred to the way things appeared to the physical senses in the terms commonly used in their time.  The Sacred writers, that is, the Holy Spirit speaking through them, did not intend to teach men about things of the physical order (physical science) since these do not concern salvation.

Applying this to the shape of the earth, it is clear that this concerns the nature of the physical universe and is not relevant to salvation.  The Sacred writers and the Holy Spirit writing through them did not intend to teach about the shape of the earth.  Any references to this were made based on how the earth appeared to the senses using the terminology of their time.  If they used phrases that suggest the earth is flat, that does not necessarily mean the earth is actually flat, only that it appeared flat and was spoken of that way at the time.  

If the earth is proven by science to be a globe, this is not an error on the part of Scripture.  If the earth is flat, it must  be shown, not by Scripture, but by science.  The sacred writers and the Holy Spirit did not intend Scripture to teach about things of the physical order.

Pope Benedict XV in Spiritus Paraclitus (1920), while not going into as much detail Pius XII said " to hold fast to the principles laid down in the Encyclical Providentissimus Deus"  and warned against a way it was being misapplied in his time.  (There were people who, by claiming an analogy between science and history, were trying to undermine the Bible as history.)

Three popes, drawing on the teaching of St. Basil, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Auinas, all taught that we must interpret Scripture bearing in mind that it does not intend to teach about physical science.  I do not see how it is possible to deny that this is Church teaching.

Pope Leo XIII's teaching in Providentissimus Deus (1893) was not a reference to the shape of the earth but a general principle of Scriptural exegesis that applies to all matters of the physical order.  It was explicitly reiterated and confirmed by Pope Pius XII in Divino Afflanto Spiritu (1943):Here is a paraphrase:
Sacred writers when speaking of things of the physical order referred to the way things appeared to the physical senses in the terms commonly used in their time.  The Sacred writers, that is, the Holy Spirit speaking through them, did not intend to teach men about things of the physical order (physical science) since these do not concern salvation.

Applying this to the shape of the earth, it is clear that this concerns the nature of the physical universe and is not relevant to salvation.  The Sacred writers and the Holy Spirit writing through them did not intend to teach about the shape of the earth.  Any references to this were made based on how the earth appeared to the senses using the terminology of their time.  If they used phrases that suggest the earth is flat, that does not necessarily mean the earth is actually flat, only that it appeared flat and was spoken of that way at the time. 

If the earth is proven by science to be a globe, this is not an error on the part of Scripture.  If the earth is flat, it must  be shown, not by Scripture, but by science.  The sacred writers and the Holy Spirit did not intend Scripture to teach about things of the physical order.

Pope Benedict XV in Spiritus Paraclitus (1920), while not going into as much detail Pius XII said " to hold fast to the principles laid down in the Encyclical Providentissimus Deus"  and warned against a way it was being misapplied in his time.  (There were people who, by claiming an analogy between science and history, were trying to undermine the Bible as history.)

Three popes, drawing on the teaching of St. Basil, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Auinas, all taught that we must interpret Scripture bearing in mind that it does not intend to teach about physical science.  I do not see how it is possible to deny that this is Church teaching.