The Church prioritized its authority over scientific inquiry.

Evidence

But the Church was afraid of a scandal that might undermine its fight against Protestantism, and so took repressive measures. — Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, 351

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, 351
• XREF: connects to: The Pope feared Copernicanism would undermine the Church’s authority. — Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, 353; Hostility toward pagan learning persisted within the Church for centuries — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1508; The Catholic Church suppressed rational science for centuries. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 189 (+1 more)

Library Connections

• The Pope feared Copernicanism would undermine the Church’s authority. #exemplifies (0.85) — Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, 353