Oh really? And when, pray tell, do you date the Catholic Church's acceptance of science?
At which of these schools did Copernicus study? How about Galileo?
Coperincus studied at the Jagellonian University, founded and run by devout Catholics. Galileo studied at the University of Pisa, which had a similar story.
Copernicus was never persecuted by the Church. Galileo was only persecuted because he was pontificating on the theological implications of the Copernican system. He was never persecuted because of his science.
In fact, the Church never persecuted anyone for doing science. I defy you to name one person who was. No, Galileo does not qualify, for the reasons mentioned above. Nor does Bruno, who was persecuted for his panthesitic theology, not his science.
"And when, pray tell, do you date the Catholic Church's acceptance of science?"
There is no such firm date. Sure, the Catholic church accepted science when scientific conclusions supported Catholic doctrines, but it wasn't until the power of the RCC was sufficiently broken by the Reformation and Enlightenment that it was forced to accept that science was valid even when scientific conclusions undermined Catholic doctrine.
Science, as we know it, came about through a gradual progression of thought. The likes of Plato and Aristotle used deductive and inductive reasoning, but over time, empiricism gained hold, and one can say that empiricism is one of the cornerstones of modern science.
The earliest documentation of empiricism that I could find is from the works of the Egyptian Ibn al Haythen (965-1040, also called Alhazen) who published a book called "Optics" in which he used experimentation to refute Plato's theory of refraction.
I could go on, but I'm already belaboring the point.
"Coperincus studied at the Jagellonian University, founded and run by devout Catholics. Galileo studied at the University of Pisa, which had a similar story."
Yes, and this proves that the RCC invented science how?
Martin Luther studied at the Universities of Erfurt and Wittenberg and was also a monk and a priest, so does that mean that the Catholic church invented Lutheranism?
"Copernicus was never persecuted by the Church. Galileo was only persecuted because he was pontificating on the theological implications of the Copernican system. He was never persecuted because of his science. In fact, the Church never persecuted anyone for doing science. I defy you to name one person who was. No, Galileo does not qualify, for the reasons mentioned above."
Copernicus wasn't persecuted because it's rather ineffectual to persecute a corpse--the first publishing of his works wasn't completed until after his death. And before that, he was very selective with whom he shared his ideas.
As for Galileo, one need only read the Inquisition's indictment and adjuration against him to debunk the claim that he wasn't persecuted because of his science. It explicitly includes the charge that his heliocentric hypothesis is absurd, false, heretical, and contrary to Holy Scriptures. So sorry, but Galileo is an excellent example (though I admit he wasn't burned at the stake).