My comments have nothing to do with'wanting to be smart'. To be fair, you need to consider this within the historical context.  The geocentric model was believed to be correct not only by the Church but by most scientist due to a lack of scientific proof at the time to support the heliocentric theory. Therefore Copernicus and other astronomers feared ridicule as much as being accused of heresy. 
In the final analysis, the Church accepted the scientific proof (parallax shift) which proves the point that religion and science (faith and reason) are indeed not mutually exclusive.