Catholic Myths: The Inquisition

No one expects (a blogpost defending) the Spanish Inquisition! Seriously though, the Inquisition (as if there is only one) is commonly portrayed as a period in Church history where the hierarchy of the Church roamed around Europe toturing heretics to admit their wicked beliefs, and then brutally killing them through horrifying techniques, such as burning them at the stake. The Inquisitors were wicked and self-righteous people who persecuted masses of innocent people, all for the sake of systematically eradicating other religious beliefs. The Inquisition led by the Roman Catholic Church was clearly among the worst forms of persecution the world has ever seen, right?

No. The truth of the matter is that, in those days , heresy was a crime not simply of the Church but of the state. The kings of the world held their state to one religion (usually Catholicism at the beginning of the Inquisition), and it was beneficial to them to hold their subjects to the unity of one faith. To have someone dissenting in religion was a huge threat to the security of the throne, and therefore was a crime comparable to high treason. So when the state received a charge of "heresy", they did not take it lightly.

So, how did the Church get involved? Well, it was unfortunately common for the state to try a potential heretic without giving them a fair and just trial. This includes not hearing the testimony of the accused as to what they had said, not questioning potential reasons why the accuser would want the accuser to be "taken care of", and not questioning as to whether the accused had in fact said what they were accused of saying. This lead to an unfortunate number of innocent people being not only charged, but persecuted as heretics (unfortunately, legitimate statistics over the number of people killed during the Inquisitions are unknown). In response to this injustice, the Church put in place various Inquisitions, which properly questioned the accuser and the accused to give a proper and fair trial. If they were found innocent (as they most often were), they were set free. If they were found guilty (a rare occasion), they were handed over to the state to receive the persecution that the state saw fit.

Unfortunately, even in the Inquisition led by the Church, torture was sparingly used in order to get evidence from individuals. However, this technique was not only common, but believed to be necessary at the time. Even St. Augustine holds torture (along with slavery) as a necessary evil for the well being of society. What should be noted about the torture and interrogation techniques of the Inquisition, is that they were significantly greater in their enactment of justice than their secular counterparts of the day. In fact, many of the techniques established by the Catholic Inquisition are the basis for many of our legal practices today.

To say that the Church was totally and completely blameless for some of the wrongdoings of the Inquisition would be a bit naive to say. The Church, as in all periods, had many corrupt men in its midst, and did not always deal with them accordingly. Furthermore, the lines between the Church and the State was much more blurred in those times than they are today (Bishops and Cardinals were seen state officials as well as Church officials), making it more difficult to claim that the Church was entirely blameless. That being said, the vast majority of the institutional injustices of the Inquisitions were initiated by the State, and not by the Church. Furthermore, the Church's involvement in the Inquisitions was primarily one of intercession and justice for the accused, not of persecution.

God Bless,

שמואל אוליבר יוסף קרלסון

(Samuel Oliver Joseph Carlson)