He insisted he did not do so because he believed in Heliocentrism.
Historically, Heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center.
Heliocentrism is a model of the universe which put the Sun
in the center devised mathematically by Nicolaus Copernicus.
Most people know that the
Church opposed Galileo's advocacy of Copernican Heliocentrism, for which Pope John Paul II apologized in 1992.
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth
and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of our Solar System.
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism,[1] is the astronomical model in which the Earth
and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System.
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism,[7][note 1] is the astronomical model in
which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of our Solar System.