In 1633, Galileo was sentenced to house arrest (for the remainder of his life) by the Catholic Church for daring to suggest an idea. Yes, an idea. An idea that the Church didn’t like: that the Earth revolves around the Sun. This idea is called heliocentrism. They locked him up and banned reprinting his works; they forced him to recant his position or face torture. The Catholic Church suppresses information because the truth would allow people to conclude that their teachings are false.

In 1741, the Pope graciously allowed publication of Galileo’s complete scientific works. That they had to get permission is appalling. By 1835, official opposition to heliocentrism was dropped. Through Galileo's work, rationality and reason were thrust into public consciousness once more.

The Catholic Church made a half-assed apology in late 1992.

The Pontifical Academy even planned to build a statue of Galileo within the Vatican. A month later the plans were halted. Probably because they needed the money to shuttle fiddly priests around, or perhaps to buy bigger hard-drives for their child pr0n stash.