Has the Catholic Church ever apologized for all the crimes committed during the Inquisition?

Question

just wondering

Answer 1

Yes, several times. The latest was by Pope John Paul II in March of 2004.

Answer 2

I was watching EWTN one time and they showed a mass where Pope John Paul II apologized to the world for all the sins committed by men in the Church, and for any wrongs that hurt people or had a hand causing scandal. I was totally blown away by this. The Pope, the leader of the Church, in that moment, taught us all a lesson in humility and forgiveness. I think it brought about incredible healing.

God bless.

Answer 3

Can you prove that the Inquisition was against God's will? The Bible itself records instances where God commanded that formal, legal inquiries--that is, inquisitions--be carried out to expose secret believers in false religions. In Deuteronomy 17, 2-5 God said: "If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the Lord God gives you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them--you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones."

Protestants and other Christian denominations always claim millions were ordered executed by the Inquisition. That claim is grossly exaggerated. During the time of the Inquisition there were no more than 95 million people on earth.

Protestants also had their Inquisition after the reformation. It is just not fair to judge the actions of the Church by our standards and culture today. If you were around during that time how would you have acted against heresies, which triggered the Inquisition? You might be a pagan or an Arian now if not for the Inquisition.

Peace!

Answer 4

Pastor Billy says: well this is such a poorly worded question I'm not sure what to make of it!

1. Which Inquisition the Jewish ones, Protestant ones, Catholic ones or Muslim ones?

2. Which crimes committed? can you be less general and name some.

just wondering.........

Answer 5

Just confirming what Mark M wrote. There are some who felt that Pope John Paul II should have added a specific apology for the homosexuals who were murdered as part of the Inquisitions reign of terror, but the pope kept it a blanket apology for all the wrong-doings of the church.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-6-2004_pg9_1
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/12/sm.06.html
http://www.servetus.org/es/news-events/articulos/20060401.htm

Answer 6

The Pope already apologized, he even pray in the mosque to show respect. I don't know with the muslim... do they apologized with there brothers actions (911, bombay bombing, several bombings, unreasonable ban for the practice of christian and catholic faith to some middle east and african countries, kidnapings, etc.) or pray in the cathedral to show respect to other relegions and faith?...

Answer 7

You touched on an area very dear to my heart, I know that I get long winded, but the answer to this requires it.

The Inquisition(s).

There was more than one. And it wasn't just Catholics. Some were run by the governments, some by *gasp* Protestants!

The Spanish Inquisition is so often today described as one of the Catholic Church's great sins. The Catholic Church as an institution had almost nothing to do with it. This was a arm of the Spanish monarchy, separate from ecclesiastical authority.

One need not have read Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum to have heard of the dark dungeons, sadistic churchmen, and excruciating tortures of the Spanish Inquisition. The rack, the iron maiden, the bonfires on which the Catholic Church dumped its enemies by the millions: These are all familiar icons of the Spanish Inquisition set firmly into our culture.

This image of the Spanish Inquisition is a useful one for those who have little love for the Catholic Church. Anyone wishing to beat the Church about the head and shoulders will not tarry long before grabbing two favorite clubs: the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition.

In order to understand the Spanish Inquisition, which began in the late 15th century, we must look briefly at its predecessor, the medieval Inquisition. Before we do, though, it's worth pointing out that the medieval world was not the modern world. For medieval people, religion was not something one just did at church. It was their science, their philosophy, their politics, their identity, and their hope for salvation. It was not a personal preference but an abiding and universal truth. Heresy, then, struck at the heart of that truth. It doomed the heretic, endangered those near him, and tore apart the fabric of community. Medieval Europeans were not alone in this view. It was shared by numerous cultures around the world. The modern practice of universal religious toleration is itself quite new and and in fact uniquely Western.

Secular and ecclesiastical leaders in medieval Europe approached heresy in different ways. Roman law equated heresy with treason. Why? Because kingship was God-given, thus making heresy an inherent challenge to royal authority. Heretics divided people, causing unrest and rebellion. No Christian doubted that God would punish a community that allowed heresy to take root and spread. Kings and commoners, therefore, had good reason to find and destroy heretics wherever they found them — and they did so with gusto.

One of the most enduring myths of the Inquisition is that it was a tool of oppression imposed on unwilling Europeans by a power-hungry Church. Nothing could be more wrong. In truth, the Inquisition brought order, justice, and compassion to combat rampant secular and popular persecutions of heretics. When the people of a village rounded up a suspected heretic and brought him before the local lord, how was he to be judged? How could an illiterate layman determine if the accused's beliefs were heretical or not? And how were witnesses to be heard and examined?

The medieval Inquisition began in 1184 when Pope Lucius III sent a list of heresies to Europe's bishops and commanded them to take an active role in determining whether those accused of heresy were, in fact, guilty. Rather than relying on secular courts, local lords, or just mobs, bishops were to see to it that accused heretics in their dioceses were examined by knowledgeable churchmen using Roman laws of evidence. In other words, they were to "inquire" — thus, the term "inquisition."

From the perspective of secular authorities, heretics were traitors to God and king and therefore deserved death. From the perspective of the Church, however, heretics were lost sheep that had strayed from the flock. As shepherds, the pope and bishops had a duty to bring those sheep 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 accused of heresy by the medieval Inquisition were either acquitted or their sentence 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 departed out of hostility to the flock, there was nothing more that could be done. Unrepentant or obstinate heretics were excommunicated and given over to the secular authorities. Despite popular myth, the Church did not burn heretics. It was the secular authorities that held heresy to be a capital offense. 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.

By the way, by the 14th century, the Inquisition represented the best legal practices available. Inquisition officials were university-trained specialists in law and theology. The procedures were similar to those used in secular inquisitions (we call them "inquests" today, but it's the same word).

In regards to the Spanish Inquisition, the fact is that there were Jews, and Muslims who were masquerading as converted Catholics and poisioning the flock with their heresy. The monarch of Ferdinand and Isabella, devout Catholics and concerned for their subjects asked the Pope to allow an Inquisition. It was given.

Most accused converts were acquitted, but not all. Well-publicized burnings — often because of blatantly false testimony — justifiably frightened other converts. Pope Sixtus IV ordered the bishops to take a direct role in all future tribunals. They were to ensure that the Church's well-established norms of justice were respected. The accused were to have legal counsel and the right to appeal their case to Rome. As a result King Ferdinand was very upset, and the ecclesiastical portion effectively ended.

(Also, those who get their history from Mel Brooks's "History of the World, Part I" will perhaps be surprised to learn that all of those Jews enduring various tortures in the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition are nothing more than a product of Brooks's fertile imagination. Spain's Jews had nothing to fear from the Spanish Inquisition.)

As a Catholic, I have nothing to apologize for. I refuse to apologize. If a Pope apologizes, I do not understand why. But it matters little because it is not binding to me because it was not under faith and morals.

Answer 8

Yes. Probably not to the satisfaction of some, but they did.

Answer 9

They were not crimes dear, they were executions following God's judgement.
It the holy inquisitors had done their job properly we would not be constantly harassed by scientists and educated people. We could be in blisfull ignorance, dying in our late thirties, living in wooden shacks with our smoking oil lamps and riding in our horse carriages. ...

Answer 10

How do you apologize to the dead?

I think, the Popes just forgot about it, but I can't answer that one. Maybe the website below has some answers on it.
I do know that according to Revelation, talking about false religion, the Catholic church is blamed as one of the false religions to be destroyed by God, himself.