Neither the Catholic Church nor any other religious institution has ever been more scientifically/intellectually sophisticated than the general overall secular culture of its time. Not possible.

Before Copernicus and Gallileo, NOBODY ever even imagined that the earth might possibly be going around the sun. When those two first introduced this new theory, only a very small number of highly educated men were capable of understanding their arguments, so most of the world continued to believe in an earth-centric universe for at least a few generations.

The Vatican could have done a better job of handling this controversy, without a doubt. Still, the Pope and his confidants were hardly alone in their skepticism. I am quite sure than any number of different powerful elements in European society were quite adamant about resisting change of any kind (as is true in EVERY era), and put pressure on the Church to stamp out any and all ideas that might disturb any aspect of the status quo.