Catholics, can you please cite Tradition or Scripture that gave you the right to conduct the Inquisition?

Question

If your church is so Holy and every action is in accordance with God's Will, then please teach us. We want to know where you get the 'God' given right to kill non-catholics?

Answer 1

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 easy 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 2

Hello,

First much of the literature written about the Inquisition and how many died were written in England, the mortal enemy of Spain so numbers are being and excesses are now greatly
disputed much like the witch persecutions (mostly by Protestants) today.

Anyway, simple.

You have to look and judge things by the standards of their times. Church and politics and state were intertwined and the philosophy of life at that time was God's "chain of being" which essentially said the plan for the universe is God at the top, the king followed by nobility, artisans peasants etc.

When the Reformation came and threatened to throw the new world into chaos it was considered in that world of religion tied to politics a clear and present danger to the status quo of those times much like communism was and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism is to America today where millions have also died over the last 50 years.

Oh, by the way, stop cheating the Protestants regarding their monopoly on atrocities. Do not think that the non Catholics were gentle lambs in these conflicts, Calvin himself had Michael Servetus burned at the stake for questioning his beliefs and the protestant zeal from the witch hunts to the cruelties inflicted on Catholics in the British Isles are legendary.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 3

The Inquisition inits extremes was un Catholic > Violence and force in the name of religion is wrong. The murders and oppressions in the name of "Bible Christianity" in Ireland for over 400 years was just as much a sign of not applying ethics.
Who said every action of popes,and other Catholics is always Catholic and in accordance with God's will?

The catholic Church has every right and duty to define its teachings and to defend them with the tools of the Holy Spirit. Nobody of any group has the right to take the rule of informed conscience away from anybody.

The Catholic Church has often condemned its role in peresecution of jews and others. i am waiting for Protestants and all sorts and sects of "Bible believers" to do the same in repentance and fellowship with Catholics.

Answer 4

They have a quote about witches being evil and that they should be disposed of. However there is NO DEFINITION of what a witch actually is. Duh!

And as for native indians, the tradition of scalping was introduced to them by the Spanish. It was unknown until they met christian Europeans and learned about their loving god.

Answer 5

I can't help but notice you are giving all the persecuters of Catholics a pass. . . very disingenuous of you.

Answer 6

"What is your religion my son?" inquired the Archbishop of Rheims.
"Pardon, monseigneur," replied Rochebriant; "I am ashamed of it."
"Then why do you not become an atheist?"
"Impossible! I should be ashamed of atheism."
"In that case, monsieur, you should join the Protestants."

catholic bashing=last acceptable form of bigotry
ya thunk catholics are the only ones guilty of murder in god's name ??? LOL!!!!!!

Answer 7

The same place that fundamentalist Christians got their right to do it when they went to North America!!!!! Have you forgotten the North American native Indians?