Is the Catholic Church guilty for the crimes of the inquisition?

Answer 1

Some answerers to this question say the church is not guilty, only the perpetrators, or that the church was guilty at the time and cannot be held responsible now. I wonder if they would apply the same reasoning to the German Nazi Party and the holocaust. Or to the millions killed by the communist parties of the Soviet Union, China and Cambodia. Most people would regard the Nazi and Communist parties together with their ideologies as being totally discredited by the actions of their former members. Why do we apply different reasoning to the Catholic Church?

Answer 2

Pastor Billy says.......the majority of the persons answering you have neither studied the Inquistion(s) or the Crusades.
First off I have to ask which Inquisition(s), the Catholic, the Protestant or the Jewish led Inquisition?
Secondly which crimes or criminals are you referring to those sentenced by the tribunals or those who abused the institution?
Frankly your question is so fatigue I have to think it will never be answered adequately and everyone will be left with some cariacture.

In the Christian jubilee of 2000, Pope John Paul II apologized for on the behalf of all individual Christians Catholic and non-Catholic who in the name of Christ abused the institution of the Christian Church and committed sinful acts through their own person.

No the Catholic Church is not guilty for the doctrine of the Church does not convey the message of our sinless nature in this earthly realm but a process of perfection and purification final fully achieved upon in the the next life.


Additions: someone has mentioned Foxes book of martyrs and obviously they haven't read it themselves. Over half the book contains the names of Roman Catholic saints. This book was written during the Tudor reign in England a period of high propanga by the protesters to the Faith. If you want to supply supportive reading material it might benefit having a book review of course this could also seek to warp the reality of the book.

Answer 3

Which crimes? Over zealous interogation? Possibly. Killing? No. THe inquisition did not kill. It protected rpentant heretics and good Catholics from the wrath of the SPanish Monarchy, which viewed deviance by Catholics from Catholic doctrine as a form of sedition. If a person found guilty of heresy refuesed to repent, the Inquisition would remove it's protection from them as it, as an arm of the Catholic church, had no right to protect those who did not seek the protection of the church. The SPanish monarchy would then kill them for sedition.

So your question should have been phrased - Is the SPanish monarchy responsible for the crimes committed by the Spanish monarchy in the 15th century, and is killing the seditious a crime for a government?

Answer 4

Modern historians have long known that the popular view of the Inquisition is a myth. The Inquisition was actually an attempt by the Catholic Church to stop unjust executions.

Heresy was a capital offense against the state. Rulers of the state, whose authority was believed to come from God, had no patience for heretics. Neither did common people, who saw heretics as dangerous outsiders who would bring down divine wrath.

When someone was accused of heresy in the early Middle Ages, they were brought to the local lord for judgment, just as if they had stolen a pig. It was not to discern whether the accused was really a heretic. The lord needed some basic theological training, very few did. The sad result is that uncounted thousands across Europe were executed by secular authorities without fair trials or a competent judge of the crime.

The Catholic Church's response to this problem was the Inquisition, an attempt to provide fair trials for accused heretics using laws of evidence and presided over by knowledgeable judges.

From the perspective of secular authorities, heretics were traitors to God and the king and therefore deserved death. From the perspective of the Church, however, heretics were lost sheep who had strayed from the flock. As shepherds, the pope and bishops had a duty to bring them back into the fold, just as the Good Shepherd had commanded them. So, while medieval secular leaders were trying to safeguard their kingdoms, the Church was trying to save souls. The Inquisition provided a means for heretics to escape death and return to the community.

Most people tried for heresy by the Inquisition were either acquitted or had their sentences suspended. Those found guilty of grave error were allowed to confess their sin, do penance, and be restored to the Body of Christ. The underlying assumption of the Inquisition was that, like lost sheep, heretics had simply strayed.

If, however, an inquisitor determined that a particular sheep had purposely left the flock, there was nothing more that could be done. Unrepentant or obstinate heretics were excommunicated and given over to secular authorities. Despite popular myth, the Inquisition did not burn heretics. It was the secular authorities that held heresy to be a capital offense, not the Church. The simple fact is that the medieval Inquisition saved uncounted thousands of innocent (and even not-so-innocent) people who would otherwise have been roasted by secular lords or mob rule.

Where did this myth come from? After 1530, the Inquisition began to turn its attention to the new heresy of Lutheranism. It was the Protestant Reformation and the rivalries it spawned that would give birth to the myth. Innumerable books and pamphlets poured from the printing presses of Protestant countries at war with Spain accusing the Spanish Inquisition of inhuman depravity and horrible atrocities in the New World.

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

This is much like the question of slavery in America. No one alive today was affected by it so what can be done? Reparations? To whom and for what? All those involved are long dead.
Were the catholics responsible for the death of all those tortured, sawn asunder, impailed, burned at the stake, drawn and quartered, drug to death, thrown from buildings, drowned, suffocated, or otherwise murdered because they would not kiss the ring? The answer is obviously yes. But what is there to be done now? I guess just try to make people aware of what the catholic church was and still is. The inquisition was not the only atrocity perpetuated by the catholic church. Rev. 17 gives us a peek at it's final judgment. God will provide reparations.

Answer 6

Is the protestant church guilty for the crimes of the Burning Time?

The protestant Churches are just a guilty as all the Christians who sought what they called heretics and witches and then murdered them.

Answer 7

The Catholic Church of that time is guilty, but one cannot hold the current incarnation of the Catholic Church guilty for past sins.

Answer 8

Are Muslims guilty for the crimes of the Ottoman Empire?

Answer 9

It is man not the church that is guilty of any crime; don't label the church as Jesus left it in the hands of mankind, again free choice; man has manipulated it for pleasure, profit and power ; don't blame God's church for the action of some men; we are out here in numbers as well and don't agree with handling of the church by corrupt individuals; it is not God's message that is corrupt, once again it is man.

Answer 10

They are guilty of so much stuff I really really really dont understand how anyone can be catholic unless your eyes are closed.

1) Did you know they cut the testicles off of young boys so that they can keep a high voice in the choir?

2) Did you know most of the so called holy days that are celebrated are really pagan days in disquise?

3) Did you know that before the protestant reformation only priest were allowed to read the bible and tell the people what was in it(talk about perfect system of curruption)?

4) Did you know that the C.Church charged people for the forgiveness of their sins?