Was Copernicus excommunicated from the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

When Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) attempted to promote the heliocentric theory (that the earth moves around the sun) in the seventeenth century, he was tried by the Inquisition in Rome and found "vehemently suspect of heresy". The sentence imposed did not include excommunication, but he was required to "abjure, curse and detest" those opinions and was placed under house arrest for the term of his life.

Only in 1965 did the Catholic Church revoke its condemnation of Galileo.

Answer 2

Catholic AnswerNicolaus Copernicus was a loyal son of the Church and was never excommunicated.
AnswerThe Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) was not only a loyal son of the Church but a very sensible man. He knew that anyone who opposed Church doctrine was branded a heretic and could not only be excommunicated but even executed. He avoided this fate by delaying publication of his major work, On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres, until after he died. Some time after its eventual publication, the book was placed on the Church's list of Prohibited Books, but at least Copernicus was not excommunicated during his lifetime.