Don't forget that it was Galileo's arrogance and refusal to swallow Aristotelian physics (as filtered through Aquinas, mostly) that really started modern physics.
But don't forget Galileo's contemporary Copernicus, whose research several cardinals were funding.
You're right about Aquinas promoting some of Aristotle's errors. But it's important to remember that Aristotle was the greatest philosopher in history, at least up to St. Thomas' time, so Aquinas' adoption of some of Aristotle's flawed theories regarding the natural world is understandable.
Galileo could have gone even further if his own devout Catholicism-which was unwavering in spite of his being persecuted by those he trusted the most-held him back from coming up with a theory of gravitation. Similarly Cuivier, the greatest biologist between Linnaeus and Darwin, might have come up with the theory of evolution if his own pious Christianity hadn't prevented him from doing so.