None of which had much to do with the persecution of Galileo.

The Catholic Church has changed its stance on many things through time, see [history].

In this instance the Church itself had officially requested a presentation be made to demonstrate various arguments for and against different viewpoints .. one of which was that the heavens didn't rotate about the earth.

It wasn't a surprise that such a well known hypothetical should appear in a book commissioned to outline such hypotheticals.