TEN MYTHS 2
Myth 4: THE INQUISITION
• For centuries the Catholic Church
sponsored the persecution, torture and
death of thousands, perhaps millions, of
innocent people.
• The Black Legend: An English/Dutch
story to discredit the Spanish; A
Protestant story to discredit Catholics.
Good Sources:
• Diane Mozcar
• Thomas Madden
• Henry Kamen
Two Principles:
• St. Augustine: error has no rights
• Free conscience must not be forced.
The Inquisition – Grand Jury
The Method
• An inquiry by
lawyers and
theologians
• Penalties range
from pilgrimage
to prison
• Remanded to civil
authorities
(Jacques Fornier:
42 or 930
inquiries)
• Execution of
sentence: treason
Albigensians are unique case
•
•
•
•
A dangerous cult
Dualism: spirit v. matter
Perfecti prefer death by starvation
“the form of a definitely anti-social
philosophy, aiming at the literal
destruction of society” A. L. Maycock
The Lie lives on!
• “Kill them all. God knows his own”
at Béziers
• It never happened and yet it’s still
told in Junior High History classes!
The Spanish Inquisition
The facts:
• Spain was just freed of Moorish rule
in 1492, a struggle since 711 A. D.
• Many Muslims “converted” to
Christianity but cooperated with
Muslim raiders and led uprisings.
The Spanish Jews?
• Spanish Jews had welcomed the
Muslims at first, but by 1492 many
converted and became successful
businessmen and bankers.
• Those who refused to convert were
expelled.
The Butcher’s Bill
• In 100 years, 182 heretics were
executed in Spain.
• There were 35 executions in the U.S.
in 2014 (10 in Missouri).
• There were 8,335 executions in the
U.S. in the Twentieth Century.
Myth 5: The Corrupt Church
• The Church was corrupt to the core:
corrupt Renaissance Popes, cheating
clergy, indulgence salesmen, bad
doctrine.
• Martin Luther reformed the Church,
restoring it to a biblical base.
“Ego Sum Papa”
The Church is
weakened by
Avignon Papacy
Western Schism
Hundred Years War
Bubonic Plague
Peter Waldo’s Heresy
Pope Alexander VI
Pre-Reformation Reforms
• In Spain, Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros
reforms the Church
• Fifth Lateran Council outlines reforms in
1517.
• Devotio Moderna, Brethren of Common
Life,
• Warren H. Carroll. THE CLEAVING OF
CHRISTENDOM. Vol. 4. Front Royal:
Christendom Press. 2002.
Reformation Saints
Archbishop Albert Hughes, SPIRITUAL MASTERS
•
Cardinal Charles Borromeo, Thomas More, John Fisher, Don
Inigo Lopez de Loyola, Francis Borgia, Francis Xavier,
Aloysius Gonzaga, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross,
Francis de Sales, St. Frances de Chantel at Dijon
(Visitation Confraternity), Angela Merici (Ursulines)
• THE LIFE; THE WAY OF PERFECTION; INTERIOR CASTLES
INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE and TREATISE ON
LOVE OF GOD
• UTOPIA – Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico
The Church is Anti-Science
“The Church routinely suppresses
science and persecutes scientists,
proving that its religious doctrines
are incompatible with reason and
empirical knowledge.”
Proof: Galileo!
Then explain…
• Roger Bacon, OFM,
mathematics and optics
• Albert the Great, OP, logic,
physics, biology, psychology
• Bishop Robert Grosseteste,
scientific method
• Father Nicholas Steno,
paleontology
• 35 moon craters named
after Jesuit scientist
• Fr. Francisco Grimaldi, the
diffraction of light
• Jesuits Frederick Odenbach
and J. B. Macalwane,
seismology
• Father Mendel, OSB,
genetics
• Louis Pasteur, biology
• Just to name a few!
J. L Heilbron, UC Berkley
“The Roman Catholic Church gave
more financial aid and social support
to the study of astronomy for over
six centuries, from the recovery of
ancient learning during the Middle
Ages into the Enlightenment, than
any other, and probably, all other,
institutions.”
Myth 7: The Spanish Genocide of
American Indians
Maximalists…
14,000,000 in Mexico
25,000,000 total
Since 50,000 BC?
Remains found from 12,000 BC
Population estimates:
North of Rio Grande
"The destruction
of the Indians of
the Americas
was, far and
away, the most
massive act of
genocide in the
history of the
world." David E.
Stannard.
900,000 – 12,250,000
Mexico
3.2 million – 37.5 million
Central America
100 thousand – 13.5 million
Andes
3 million – 37.5 million
Brazil
1 million – 11.5 milllion
Where did all the Natives go?
minimalists
maximalists
• 8,400,000 in
Western
Hemisphere
• 113,000,000 in
Western
Hemisphere
The Great Epidemics of the 1500’s
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1520 small pox (virgin soil)
1531 measles (vs)
1546 Mexican typhus (native)
1550 Mumps (vs)
1563 Measles (vs)
1558 famine (native)
1559 Influenza (vs)
1576 Hemoraghic fever (native)