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The Origins of the Inquistion
From the earliest days the Church had found it necessary to deal
with heresy. At the beginning this was done by the
formation of the Creeds and by dialogue. Those who refused to come into line
with the Catholic faith were simply treated as outsiders.
In the middle ages, however, this was not seen as sufficient.
Committees of Inquiry were set up to discover and correct heresy. These were
the source of what was to become the Inquisition.
Originally, the committees consisted of the parish priest and
the local church but eventually the Pope placed the responsibility for the Inquisition
into the hands of the Dominican Friars.
The Development of the Inquisition
Despite the later development in which the Spanish Inquisition
was used to forcefully convert Jews and Muslims, the original purpose of the
Inquisition was simply to keep Catholics from falling away from the faith.
Toward the end of the 12th Century a heresy arose which continued
into the 13th Century. It began near the city of Albi in France and its followers
were known as Albigenses. They held doctrines similar to those of the Gnostics
and they rejected all sacraments.
About the same time Peter Waldo and his followers began to preach
in public despite being refused permission by the Church. The Waldenses, like
the later Franciscans, gave away their money and lived on alms. When they were
excommunicated by Pope Lucius III, they gained, rather than lost, popularity
and the movement spread.
Both the heretical Albigenses and the biblical Waldenses were considered reasons
for extending the powers of the Inquisition. Pope Innocent III (who placed England
under an interdict in order to bring King John into line) condemned both movements
at the 4th Lateran Council. Gregory IX confirmed this condemnation and gave
the Dominicans charge of the Inquisition in order to stamp out these and other
"heresies".
It is sad to relate that the Dominican movement, which started with such a
desire to serve God, became the instruments of this most terrible and unjust
"engine of iniquity". No lawyer could represent anyone who had been
accused by the Inquisition without, themselves, coming under suspicion. Confessions
and testimony were obtained by torture. Human rights were unknown. Christian
charity was sacrificed for inhuman fanaticism. Those who confessed would be
severely punished if they "repented" but those who refused to recant
were either imprisoned for life or executed by burning.
That the Roman Church should have been, not only party to this but its actual
instigator, forever remains a shame to that Church.
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