Actually, Copernicus was a heliocentrist, in the sense that he thought that the sun was close to the center of the Universe. It certainly gives a whole new twist to the badly misnamed Copernican Principle.
Actually, Copernicus was a heliocentrist in the sense that he believed that the earth orbited the sun, and not vice versa. He and Galileo were persecuted for this belief by the church, the same church that today has no issue with heliocentrism. Whatever position he held regarding the solar system’s position in the universe is irrelevant.