What role did the catholic church play in the development of the heliocentric theory promoted by copernicus and galileo?

Copernicus's heliocentric theory predates Galileo's, though the model proposed by Copernicus posited circular planetary orbits. Galileo was the first astronomer to suggest elliptical planetary orbits. Hope this answers the question. Have a nice day.

I believe the answer is: The church rejected the theory and tried to punish scientists for promoting it.

Heliocentric refers to a view which believe that sun is the centre of the universe and the planets revolve around it.

The church see this as a violation of christian teaching which view the earth as the centre of the universe. So they threw all the scientists that promote heliocentric view to jail