Catholics how do you feel about the medieval inquisitions done in the name of God?

Question

imacathlolic2 you really need to read the catholic encylopedia and get the facts.
They had to apologise even though they try to justify what they did.
1000's of men and women were tortured with red hot impliments of torture that were blessed with "holy water". You are so wrong and evil in justifying what catholics did.

Answer 1

The Spanish Inquisition was monstrous and a terrible sin for those who started it, participated in it and supported it.

In a very simplified form, the Inquisition was started to "purify" the faith. It was started by Isabella and Ferdinand because their kingdom afforded certain preferences to Christians over those of other faiths. Those of other faiths, trying to gain the same treatment as Christians, would try to imitate Christian practices. The kingdom, wanting only Christians to benefit, started the Inquisition to root out impostors of the faith.

Because the whole premise of the Inquisition was not of God, the Inquisition itself became a monster. It tortured, maimed and killed many, even those who were since deemed Saints.

This is how I feel about the Inquisition. It was monstrous. It was birthed in support of policies and practices by a Christian Monarchy that were not Christian. I am a Catholic.

Yours in Christ Jesus, Grace

Answer 2

Yes, the Spanish Inquisition was shameful abuse of power done in hte name of God.

Do you know who ENDED the Inquisitions? The Pope.

Anti-Catholicism officially began in 1534 during the English Reformation; the Act of Supremacy made the King of England the 'only supreme head on earth of the Church in England.' Any act of allegiance to the latter was considered treason. It was under this act that Thomas More was executed. Queen Elizabeth I's scorn for Jesuit missionaries led to many executions at Tyburn. Catholic / Protestant strife has been blamed for much of "The Troubles," the ongoing struggle in Northern Ireland.

This attitude was carried "across the pond" to the American colonies, which would leave England, forming the United States. Although there has been a strong anti-Catholic sentiment in North America since before the dawn of the US, the feeling grew stronger during waves of Catholic immigration from old Europe. Nationalist, "native" feeling was represented by the Know-Nothing Party. Father James Coyle, a Roman Catholic priest, was murdered in 1921 by the Ku Klux Klan.

Answer 3

Christians were told hundreds of years ago that pagans are evil. That misconception has lasted this long. The bible also talks about burning witches. You're right, pagans do still have to keep a low profile and I think it's insane. Edit: Pagans did NOT always sacrifice humans. That died out in ancient times. Neo pagans are all about preserving life and causing no harm. Pagans have been focused on preserving life for hundreds of years. The last time humans were sacrificed to pagan gods was back when the stonehenges were still in use. Do some research before passing judgement people!

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

I am not a Catholic but many men have performed many an evil act in the name of God. That does not make Catholics or God evil; just those who performed and/or condoned such activities. The Catholic Church and all other Churches for that matter, are made up of humans. Humans screw up, even atheists, believe it or not.

But I must respect the Catholic and other Christian Churches for all the good they do. I don't remember ever seeing an atheist organization helping poor people in Africa or anywhere else for that matter. All I have ever seen Atheists do is complain about religion.


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Answer 6

by the sound of the question you can not be catholic,are you a Protestant?well no religion has much to be proud of.most church's have a devious past.when the inquisition was working in the middle ages in Europe.they had the same thing in England,i believe up untill the nineteeth century catholics continued to be persecuted by Protestants. every country was doing the same .Church's were a political party in the middle ages not as they are today.so much has changed.and alot of what they say has been stop by governments ,the threat of being taxed is one way of shuting them up.nobody is proud of anybody that persecuted anyone in the name of are lord ,so no i, do not thing anyone is proud of that

Answer 7

Any evil and murder done in the name of God makes my skin crawl. I think you'd have a hard time finding any Catholic who actually thinks the inquisitions were a good thing.

Answer 8

Maybe they can explain why St Joan Of Arc, was burnt at the stake. What was her crime, she was just a Young Woman. For that thumbs down, what about the Knights Templar, Jacques De Mollay, had it right, when he said the French King and The Pope would join him, to answer for their crimes before God.

Answer 9

The same way I feel about what the Nazis did to the Jews. The same way I feel about the Romans throwing the Christians to the lions. The same way I feel about what is going on in the Middle East right now. We just never learn, do we???

Answer 10

I think that One Hot Momma and Spiritroaming said it very well. Obviously I do not agree with what happened. The events you talk about happened hundreds of years before I was born. I do not exactly feel guilty about it. Same goes for slavery in the US.