[js1138]

Galileo didn't have the evidence to prove Copernicus' theory, but wanted the Vatican to change their interpretation anyways.

Ormaybe he just wanted to publish his ideas without being arrested and threatened with torture.

[DarkSavant]

Copernicus had no problem publising his works, and Galileo didn't really bring much more to the table.

He was actually allowed to write a dialogue between the two conflicting systems of thought. Instead of being honest however, he made out his opponent in the dialogue to be a complete numbskull and actually threw in a few underhanded bashes at the Pope also. If you read up on Galileo you'll find he was a nasty contemptible human being, which was more the reason for the controversy than anything scientific.

On a side note, the Copernican system didn't make things much better that the older system, the new theory still needed 48 epicycles to get the planets to operate according to the data. It wasn't until Kepler that we actually had a solid understanding of planetary orbit.