How can the Roman Catholic Church defend its past?

Question

Given the accounts of the number of people put to death for heresy and witchcraft, how can the Catholic be the standard for moral status?

Answer 1

It is easy. And you have some actual examples in answers above.

There is no disputing the history of literally hundreds of millions killed by the Vatican.
See The Almanac of Evil for 2,000 years of crimes against humanity by the Popes and the Catholic Church
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/evil/evil_0190.htm

But how they respond to this is easy:

(1) Attack the questioner- this is the most frequent response. Judging by some the answers, you have a good sample of their approach;

(2) Attack the source- this is common- given books and writings can be hundreds of years old and usually written by non-Catholics the defenders of Catholic evil love to attack the credibility of sources, often saying it is all a "protestant conspiracy".

(3) Offer less than credible alternatives- There will always be extremists and apologists that write such fanciful history to pretend events didnt happen. David Irving is known as a historian on World War II. But few would regard his views on the holocaust as reliable. These types of people are favourites of the Catholic Church and frequently quoted as "credible sources".

(4) Ignore the question/change the question-Yes, if all else fails, just don't respond. This is a personal favourite of the Vatican when contronted with stories like the thousands of Jews taken from a ghetto right next to St. Peter's under the nose of Pope Pius during World War II and he did and said nothing. Just don't respond and hopefully in a few decades people forget.

So why do people who claim to be followers of Jesus seem obsessed in defending such evil? It is a hard question. Maybe out of loyalty. Maybe because they feel any attack on the church is an attack of them.

At the end of the day, they have to live with their own conscience and the knowledge that if they believe in God, then one day they will be held account for what they said and did.

Answer 2

It's a possibility that you were set up from the get go. Be that as it may, you need to get much more educated in what the CC teaches and why. There are many websites that would help. Try "understanding Catholicism," "Catholic bible 101," "material sufficiency." Your acquaintance sounds like a sola scripturist. The CC holds that sola scriptura is actually contra biblical. The Church utilizes the bible, Sacred Tradition and the teaching authority of the Church. What translation of the bible do you use? Make sure it is one approved by the CC. The New Revised Standard Version -- Catholic Edition is a good one. Some of the teachings and practices of the CC are unbiblical. None of them are contra biblical. Whatever you do, don't bluff. If you don't have an answer for something, say you don't, but you'll try to find out. If you think something is so or not so, make it clear that you are not certain.

Answer 3

You have a mistaken idea of history that was written by Protestants about Catholics.

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 4

As others have correctly answered, heresy was punished by death by particular states and by Protestants. Witchcraft was punished by the state, not by the Church.

On the issue of bloodletting, perhaps Protestants can explain the death of Protestants by other Protestants in Germany, or the persecution and death of Catholics in Ireland and Britain.

Then again, genuine Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, don't look to the past with prejudiced eyes, rather they look to the future with an understanding of what all Christians hold in common - the teaching of Jesus Christ. Such questions do not need an answer.

Answer 5

It was the Protestants that put people to death for witchcraft, not the Catholics. John Calvin was famous for putting his opponents to death for heresy and that is how he got the name , "the butcher of Geneva'.

If you want a response to your accusation you must be more specific. It is true that the Church defended the faith against heresy but who are you saying got put to death and when?

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 6

A) ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Including the sinners who comprise the Catholic Church.

B) Protestants did their fair share as well, dear. In fact, the last "witch" was burned at the order of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Anglican) in 1839, long after Catholics had ceased the practice.

C) We don't defend the past. We're far too busy trying to grow in the present and to become that which God wants each of us to be in the future.

D) We are not the standard. Our Lord, Jesus is. We try to live up to it. We fail. So does everyone. The important thing is that we Catholics are encouraged by our faith to get up and try again. It's called Reconciliation and it's a Sacrament within our Church. A holy command given by Christ to the Apostles when He sent them into the world to preach the good news of His coming and His salvific act. (Whose sins YOU forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they are retained). Check it out.

Answer 7

Witchcraft was not primarily a Catholic thing, and yes heresy was punished, however, the corporal (torture and death) punishment of heretics were primarily done by governments of countries not by the Church itself.

Answer 8

Pastor Billy says: you have no conscience newdude. I've answered some of your other questions and it is easy to see you're not interested in the truth. You don't deserve any replies and you haven't provided any evidence for your claims only old cliches..

Get a new gig you've become tiresome.

Just for the record from my investigation more persons died during the Protestant witch hunts in Northern Europe learn your history better.

btw give me back my tea-cosy it isn't a hat

Answer 9

I don't believe you have your history correct.

The Roman Catholic Church has a lot of transgressions in it's past, but the death of heretics & witches is not just theirs to bear.