Every honest description of Catholic Church, as any institution of this size and history, needs to be very nuanced. One of such nuances is a fact that it was one of the main, and sometimes strictly main, supporters and drivers of education and scientific progress. Other such nuance is that it very often punished and persecuted attempts to bring education and scientific progress.
Both views of the Church are true. That's what nuance is.
Often? Very rarely, and the motive was never to stop progress - it was side effect of something else.
More advancements... No being opposed to actual enlightenment, because it doesn't sit well with the institution of power...
I am talking about a real man of science here of course, not some egoistic, smart person that needs to be constantly prove they are the smartest or else their frail ego will collapse... Which there are plenty of in academia and science.
Moral virtue has nothing to do with being a man of science, and many men of science lacked it completely.
And started(?) Jews being killed in Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland_massacres
I'd prefer Satanism for sure, but I don't really care.