New study corrects Inquisition's image.

Vatican City -- On June 15, 2004, the Vatican released a 783page study of the facts about the Inquisition by 31 scholars from Europe and North America, Catholics and non-Catholics. The work was under the direction of Professor Agostino Borromeo from Rome's La Sapienza University, and is published in the languages in which the addresses were delivered at a symposium in October 1998.

"The symposium," the Pope wrote in a letter for the occasion, "was in response to the desire I expressed in the apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente. It is appropriate that . the Church should become more fully conscious of the sinfulness of her children, recalling all those times in history when they departed from the spirit of Christ and his Gospel and, instead of offering to the world the witness of a life inspired by the values of faith, indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal" (No. 33).

"Before public opinion," he continued, "the image of the Inquisition represents in some form the symbol of this counter-witness and scandal. In what measure is this image faithful to the reality? Before asking for forgiveness it is necessary to know the facts exactly and to acknowledge the deficiencies in regard to evangelical exigencies in cases in which it is so. This is the reason why the Committee asked for the consultation of historians, whose scientific competence is universally recognized."

He reiterated the importance of historical research so that the Church can purify her memory of the sins of her children.

In March 2000, in a special service of forgiveness, the Pope himself had already said that the study of the Inquisition should be understood in the context of issues for which the Church asked pardon, for the "errors committed in the service of the truth, when unethical methods were used."

Origins

From the latter half of the twelfth century onwards, the Church in Northern Italy and Southern France was plagued by the growth of revolutionary Messianists such as the Albigensians, who declared marriage to be evil and the work of the devil. They, and others like them, not only threatened the Church but also the very existence of society.

The Church reacted to these problems in the same way as it had responded to the Moslem threat--by a Crusade; by an appeal to Christian princes to use their authority in defence of faith and reason; by a missionary campaign for the recovery of the affected regions; and finally by a code of repressive legislation. Consequently, the Lateran Council of 1215 provided for the confiscation of the goods of those who refused to abandon their views. These people were declared heretics, going against the law of God as well as man.

Pope Gregory IX in 1233 was the first to establish "inquisitors," "delegates of the Apostolic See with the task of combatting heresy in certain areas." In time, tribunals were created in Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain; the last such tribunal was abolished in 1834, in Spain.

Estimates of those killed by the Spanish Inquisition have ranged from 30,000 to 300,000; some said millions. But Borromeo and his associates have found that of the 125,000 cases tried by the Spanish Inquisition fewer than 1% (1250) resulted in the death penalty. Historians say that the exaggerated figures are largely the result of the "black propaganda" spread by Protestants and particularly by the British during the Reformation period, especially after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The executions that did take place were not carried out by Church officials but by the state.

In his June 2004 address to the authors of the document, Pope John Paul cautioned that people should be careful to distinguish between the actions of certain members of the faith and the dominant mentality of the era. Torture, for example, was commonly employed and widely used to extract confessions in all countries, Catholic and Protestant.

On June 15, John Paul concluded by offering a specific request for pardon connected to the Inquisition:

   "Lord, God of all men, in certain epochs
   of history Christians have sometimes consented
   to methods of intolerance and have
   not followed the great commandment of
   love, sullying thereby the face of the
   Church your spouse. Have mercy on your
   sinful children and receive our resolution
   to seek and promote the truth in the
   sweetness of charity, knowing well that
   the truth cannot be imposed except in
   virtue of the truth itself"
   (Zenit, CW, June 16)