"There remains the historical truth, that this European structure, built upon the noble foundations of classical antiquity, was formed through... the Catholic Church. Europe will return to the faith, or she will perish."

The Catholic Church's contribution to Europe, a thread.

It is an often repeated myth by the secularists: "The Church held us back... it stopped science... the dark ages..."

But to what extent is this true? To put it as briefly as possible, it isn't. It's an absolutely bullshit claim.

Catholicism is not the religion of the dark ages, it is the religion of the Carolignian and Italian renaissances. It is the Church that through its patronage, science and the arts flourished for centuries. It is the Church that brought stability to a continent that was left...

...in ruin following the fall of Rome. It is the Church that molded the most powerful civilization in human history, unrivaled to this day, yet those who inherit her wonders have a disdain for her.

In his book "How the Irish Saved Civilization", Thomas Cahill puts forward the claim that it was the valiant efforts of the Church in Ireland that helped preserve elements of civilization that would've otherwise been lost due to pagan barbarians.

Indeed, this notion that medieval monasticism helped preserve the legacy of the Greeks and Romans is not a thesis unique to Cahill. In an essay for the Metanexus institute, Emanuel Paparella writes:

Engineering and agricultural techniques, important literary works, and more were saved by monks who held onto them and helped keep society afloat in a tumultuous times.

It is the field of science that the Church is most often accused of hindering. Galileo is the go-to for critics of the Church, who put forward the ahistorical claim that the Church suppressed him because his scientific work disproved Christianity.

This of course is false, and without spending too much time on him, it must be pointed out that Galileo was put under house arrest for breaking a legal agreement with the Church, that his research didn't prove heliocentrism (and was debunked by Aristotelianism), and that while...

...living under house arrest (in a rather lavish house), he maintained his friendships with high ranking clergy and was free to continue his research.

The renowned science historian Pierre Duhem attributed modern science to Catholic mathematicians and philosophers, and Lindberg and Numbers - two science historians that are fiercely critical of the "dark ages" myth - attribute a medieval scientific advance to Christianity.

Galileo's predecessor in researching heliocentrism, Copernicus, was one of many famous scientists who received support from the Church. Gregor Mendel's work in genetics and Fr. Lemaitre's work on the big bang are of momentous significance to us today.

Of course, how could one talk about science without talking about the scientific method, which likely wouldn't exist as we know it without the work of renaissance Scholastic philosophers like Albert the Great and Saint Thomas Aquinas.

For more I advise checking out @ThomasEWoods book "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization", an excellent book that is only around 200 pages long, but is incredibly detailed and accessible.