In response, Roman Catholicism steeled itself for battle and launched the Counter-Reformation, which emphasized orthodoxy and fidelity to the true church The Counter-Reformation reinvigorated the church and, to some extent, eliminated its excesses. But the Counter- Reformation also contributed to the decline of the Italian Renaissance, a revival of arts and letters that sought to recover and rework the classical art and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. The popes had once beer great patrons of Renaissance arts and sciences but the Counter-Reformation put an end to the church's liberal leniency in these areas. Further, the church's new emphasis on religious orthodoxy would soon clash with the emerging scientific revolution. Galileo, with his study of astronomy, found himself at the center of this clash