ANSWER: Galileo Galilei was punished by the Roman Catholic church because of the scientific advancements and his firm belief on them. Galileo was the first person to prove that Sun is constant and it is the Earth that revolves around it. This theory was labeled as Heliocentrism and was exactly opposite to what was written in the Bible. The Catholic Church understood that the Bible was wrong in this part. But if they made a public statement that the Bible is wrong by even a small part, then people would hesitate to believe the Bible again. So, the church had a simpler option in front of them which was to punish Galileo.