has the catholic church ever apologized for the Inquisition?

Question

links please

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

As an American of (mostly) Scandinavian decent, I want to address the Viking thing a bit. I am not aware of any Scandinavian nation formally apologizing, (by the way, the Finnish were not Vikings, Vikings came from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Gotland which in now part of Sweden). However, there was a recreation of Viking Voyages a few years ago, they remade a longboat (maybe a few of them, I don't remember) and they made a somewhat apologetic statement saying that while they are proud that these boats were the Technological marvel of the 8 and 900s, they are not proud of any atrocities committed by Vikings, I think this was a Danish recreation, if memory serves. Also, the Viking era was a brutal time, the Saxons, Frank, and just about everyone else in Europe was pretty brutal at the time as well, I think we get more flack for it because we were the best at it.

Answer 3

On March 12, 2000, Pope John Paul II did apopogize for past wrongs:

We cannot fail to recognize the infidelities to the Gospel committed by some of our brethren, especially during the second millennium.

Let us ask pardon for the divisions which have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken towards the followers of other religions.

We humbly ask forgiveness for the part which each of us has had in these evils by our own actions, thus helping to disfigure the face of the Church.

For a complete text of the apology, see: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000312_pardon_en.html

+ The Inquisition +

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.

For more information, see:
The Real Inquisition, By Thomas F. Madden, National Review (2004) http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/madden200406181026.asp
Inquisition by Edward Peters (1988)
The Spanish Inquisition by Henry Kamen (1997)
The Spanish Inquisition: Fact Versus Fiction, By Marvin R. O'Connell (1996): http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0026.html

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 4

As far as i know, Sort of, there was the address sent out by the popes a few times but they werent full blown apologies. The amazing thing is though that the Inquisition was never formally ended, so its still active and everytime a new pope comes in he appoints the head inquistor. And each archdiocese has at least one inquistor in it. They are still taught in ways of forcing a confession and still told to use the book known as the witches hammer.

Answer 5

Yes. See Gary L's link above.

While we're at it, have the Protestants ever apologized for their persecution of Catholics?

Answer 6

Personally, I would say. Yes.

ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER
POPE JOHN PAUL II
TO AN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
ON THE INQUISITION
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1998/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19981031_simposio_en.html

Answer 7

Would an apology make any difference to you as far as your perception of the Church is concerned?

Answer 8

Would you really care if they did? Most people asking questions like don't really want to know they simply dislike the church for various reasons.

Is it really sane to condemn people today for things done by people hundreds of years ago? In fact, is it fair to condemn anyone for anything other than their own sins? that is if it were ok for us to condemn anyone at all.....does the church do it? simple, don't be a part of that church.

Answer 9

Would an apology really serve justice for all of the people they tortured and killed because of their beliefs? It's good to apologize when you're wrong, but, in some cases the people who are owed the apology are dead. Forever.

Answer 10

I don't know but,it did apologize to Galileo a few years ago.I'm sure he feels much better now.I don't know about the many thousands who died in WW2 from weaponry that was blessed by Pope Pius.It could be another two or three hundred years before they get an Oh,sorry about that but,they were difficult times,

Answer 11

Apologize? What good is that and to who? Over the centuries past, that church has caused more violence and killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined. The fact that supposedly civilized people still believe in and follow that doctrine, doesn't say much for the advancement of mankind.