Honoring a Heretic Whom Vatican ‘Regrets’ Burning. Freethinkers and atheists gathered to honor Giordano Bruno in observance of the four hundredth anniversary of his burning at the stake. Bruno, a Dominican priest whose scientific investigations led him to believe that the universe was infinite and the teachings of the Church irrational, refused to recant to save his life. ‘The pope has marked this Holy Year as a time for the church to

apologize for past errors and excesses, from the Inquisition to the

persecution of Jews. Today, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican

secretary of state, said the church “regretted” that it had resorted to

violence in Bruno’s case, but pointed out that Bruno’s writing was

“incompatible” with Christian thinking, and that he therefore remains a

heretic.’