Academic protest pope
Lecturers and students at a prestigious university in Rome want a planned visit by the Pope to be cancelled as they object to his position on Galileo.
Pope Benedict XVI is to make a speech on Thursday at La Sapienza university.
Sixty-seven academics have signed a letter saying the Pope's views on Galileo "offend and humiliate us".
They say he condoned the 1633 trial and conviction of Galileo for heresy. The astronomer had argued that the Earth revolved around the Sun.
