On the Inquisition

Part 2 By Raymond de Souza, KM

Answering Objections

1st objection: The Inquisition was intolerant!

Reply: Before we dissect the Inquisition, we have to, first of all, define the terms we use, to ensure that we share the same meaning. What is ‘tolerance’? In today’s liberal parlance, it means something like accepting other opinions, views and preferences, so that we are not seen to ‘impose’ our views on anyone. To keep our views to ourselves and to share them only if we do not intend to change other people’s views, and, conversely, expect them to reciprocate. To oppose other people’s views might be seen as judgmental, therefore ‘intolerant’.

But true tolerance is something quite different: when you know that something is evil, but you are unable to suppress it, you have no choice but to put up with it, it is tolerance. But you never give up the intention to abolish it. For instance, narco-traffic, prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, terrorism. I disagree with all of these evils, and profoundly so, but I am unable to suppress them from the face of the earth. Although I continue to do my best – however small my best may be – to eradicate them, I have to put up with the reality of their evil existence for the time being, until their total extinction – I tolerate them. I disagree with them, abhor them, fight them, want to see them extinct, but am unable to change the status quo at this point in time. Therefore, I am said to tolerate them.

This is radically different from accepting the opinions, views and preferences of the drug dealers, prostitution ringleaders, homosexual activists, abortionists, or terrorists, so that we are not seen to ‘impose’ our views on anyone. To do this I to condone the evil, not to tolerate it.

* * *

OK, once we have defined the word, let us apply it to the historical context of the Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition.

The objection of ‘intolerance’ in today’s acceptation of the term ignores completely the religious, social, economic and political context of Europe. Apart from a small contingent of Jews, whose religious independence was respected, Europe was Catholic from A to Z. It was a time when ‘the philosophy of the Gospels governed the States’, as Pope Leo XIII said in the encyclical letter Immortale Dei. And he explained it further: “Then it was that the power and divine virtue of Christian wisdom had diffused itself throughout the laws, institutions, and morals of the people, permeating all ranks and relations of civil society. Then, too, the religion instituted by Jesus Christ, established firmly in befitting dignity, flourished everywhere, by the favor of princes and the legitimate protection of magistrates; and Church and State were happily united in concord and friendly interchange of good offices. The State, constituted in this wise, bore fruits important beyond all expectation, whose remembrance is still, and always will be, in renown, witnessed to as they are by countless proofs which can never be blotted out or ever obscured by any craft of any enemies. Christian Europe has subdued barbarous nations, and changed them from a savage to a civilized condition, from superstition to true worship. It victoriously rolled back the tide of Mohammedan conquest; retained the headship of civilization; stood forth in the front rank as the leader and teacher of all, in every branch of national culture; bestowed on the world the gift of true and many-sided liberty; and most wisely founded very numerous institutions for the solace of human suffering. And if we inquire how it was able to bring about so altered a condition of things, the answer is-beyond all question, in large measure, through religion, under whose auspices so many great undertakings were set on foot, through whose aid they were brought to completion” (Immortale Dei, par. 21).

In that historical context, where there was only ‘One Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5) in the one Church of God, the pillar and main stay of the Truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), a heresy was not only a different opinion: it was a crime against both Church and State, as it happened in the medieval inquisition regarding the Cathari and Albigentians, the ISIS of the time.

Yes, a crime. Because when Christianity became the religion of the empire, and still more when the peoples of Northern Europe became Christian nations, the close alliance of Church and State made unity of faith essential not only to the ecclesiastical organization, but also to the good order of civil society. The insanity of relativism had not yet been concocted by sick minds.

Heresy, in consequence, was a crime which secular rul­ers were bound in duty to punish. It was regarded as worse than any other crime, even that of high treason. For society in those times, it was the equivalent of an­archy. Wrong ideas bring about wrong actions, and the peace and order of Christian nations would be endangered.

Therefore, since the Church and State were perfectly able to suppress the evil, the crime, the heresy, they did not have to put up with it – they did not tolerate it. In very simple terms, if the State today, secular as it is, know that there are ways to suppress the network of drug dealers, why should it tolerate its existence? If it were a Christian state, concerned with the Common good, able and willing to abolish pornography, prostitution, abortion, homosexual propaganda, why tolerate it?

Today many States – ours including – do not only tolerate evils that are harmful to the Common Good, but they promote them, finance them, and discriminate against those who disagree with the corruption of society. What a difference from medieval times…!

Second objection: The methods of the Inquisition were unjust, illegal, and cruel!

This objection parrots a historical lie, concocted by anti-Catholic agents, purely and simply. The Inquisition was much milder in its methods than the secular courts. The rights of the accused were much better guaranteed in the Inquisitions than in the ordinary civil trials of the major European countries.

First of all, suspects were not arrested until careful investigation. The Inquisition gave the heretic ample time to recant. Its officers were bound under most severe penalties to move by slow delays, so as to give the accused every opportunity of retraction. The accused was guaranteed a defense lawyer, paid for by the Inquisition if unable to afford it himself. But when the civil authority acted, as it often did, without any reference to the Church, they gave no time for repentance.

Here is the historical reality: The Inquisition marked a great improvement on the treatment meted out to heretics. Before its institution, summary executions by the State or by the enraged populace were the order of the day. Remember, those nations had been recently converted from a barbarian culture, comparatively speaking. Further, the Inqui­sition punished false accusers.

But weren’t there abuses sometimes? Yes, as in each and every human undertaking. Nothing is perfect in this valley of tears. Whatever its defects, the Inquisition provided that cases of heresy would be judged by competent and impartial judges.

Raymond de Souza KM is available to speak at Catholic events anywhere in the free world in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Please email SacredHeartMedia@Outlook.com or visit www.RaymonddeSouza.com or phone 507-450-4196 in the United States

Forgotten War – Part 4 – It makes no sense.

Strange things are happening today, hard to understand, many times they make no sense at all. A logically thinking person, will say, it is stupid to:

1. Promote equal rights by giving preferences to one group of people over another,
2. Kill unborn babies, at a time when American families are getting smaller,
3. Equalize same-sex relationships with the sacrament of Holy Matrimony,
4. Reduce gun violence by disarming law abiding citizens,
5. Gender neutral bathrooms,
6. Black lives matter movement,

1. God created us in His image, for this reason a majority of the population is naturally opposing evil, causing the devil to perfume or camouflage himself to sneak into our hearts and manipulate them. As an effect of the Goodness planted in our hearts by Creator, a majority of us seek equal rights for all people, we like the idea of being judged not by the color of skin but by the content of character. (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Satan know how to manipulate us by praying on peoples’ good hearts. Instead of creating equal, Satan, through his servants, imposed unequal rights. They forced preferential treatment of minorities, in public schools, universities, in access to social programs, hiring practices in the public sector and on many occasions in the private one too.

The result of this constant brainwashing and pressure is the “white person’s guilt” mentality evolved among the “oppressive” majority, and entitlement attitude in “oppressed” minority.

Guilty syndrome built on the foundation of slavery and oppressions from the past, is used to force us to accept and tolerate today’s sins and atrocities committed by minorities, and to break the golden rule “love sinner, hate sin”. In effect sin is not sin any more, it is just pay back. At the same time in those who work and pay through taxes for this form of reparations, their love of sinner is slowly murdered. The division is getting bigger and bigger.

After 50 years of struggle against racism, at the time when we have the first black president, the problem is not solved, it is far from being solved and it is getting worse. We see more and more “reversed” racism, racism against white people.

2. Legalizing, sponsoring and promoting abortion, also known as the slaughter of unborn babies, in the country where the birth rate is declining makes no sense. The government need taxpayers, a growing government needs population to grow, so why do many politicians favor abortion at the taxpayers’ expense?

The correct answer to this question is – a majority of them have no idea, but they are still supporting it, and will use any excuses to defend their positions (they’re stuck on stupid).

There is no logical explanation, or logical answer in this matter, unless we recognize it as a part of spiritual war, another sneaky attack in our spiritual struggle.

Unfortunately, without even realizing it, proponents of abortion on demand have sold their souls to the devil in pursuit of temporary materialistic benefits. Now they are slaves and servants of Satan. By legalizing, promoting, sponsoring, abortion they are trying to corrupt our morality, kill consciences, and entangle as many of us as possible in this sinful practice. We have to remember that this influences all of us. Those who are against abortion, if they do nothing to stop it, according to the Ezekiel, 33:8, will be held responsible for the blood of sinners. It is truly evil thing.

3. Equalizing same-sex relationship with the sacrament of Holy Matrimony is pushed on us by many politicians, activist judges, media, Hollywood stars, etc. In society, homosexuals and lesbians are a tiny minority, less than 2% of the population. In reality this group of deeply disturbed people is too small to seriously influence elections or to have a big impact on crucial national affairs, they don’t even have enough money to influence anything, but they are part of Evil United – Coalition of Servants of Devil.

According to the teachings of the Church our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. As a result of the sins against 6^th and 9^th commandment the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were wiped off the surface of the earth. Equalizing same-sex relationships with sacrament of Holy Matrimony is simply a push directed especially against easily influenced and manipulated young people to change their understanding of right and wrong, changing the meaning of words, equating perverted sexual acts with love, and sinful, fruitless relationships with the holy, life giving, sacrament. Another way to drag us to hell.

4. Reducing gun violence by disarming law abiding citizens. Logically thinking it makes no sense, law abiding citizens are not committing acts of violence. Terrorists and criminals do, and they do not obey the law, but if we will think like a chess player, a couple moves ahead, and look at the consequences we will realize that it will limit our ability to stand up for what is right and take action against evil. Imagine how you’re going to stand up against a group of young people raping a 12 year old girl in a park without some kind of weapon giving you a chance to succeed in an attempt to help. Without a weapon, most people would walk away feeling powerless, allowing evil to flourish. We may easily becoming passive like those Germans who decided not to see what the Nazis were doing during WWII, and in effect after a short time many of them cooperated with the regime in the holocaust. Remember, Hitler’s first action when he became chancellor of Germany was confiscating firearms.

If we will analyze, and understand the issues listed above as a part of the spiritual war for our souls everything becomes clear and understandable.

Summary

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. (1 Peter 5, 8:9)

The goal of the “Forgotten War” articles is to remind us this truth from first letter of St. Peter, that in our voyage in this valley of tears we have to face an enemy, an evil, powerful enemy, a deadly enemy, an enemy without mercy, Satan.

In today’s world the devil and his powers are underestimated. For many he is just a figure from horror movies or Halloween. In reality we experience his existence as individuals and as a society. He is everywhere.

St. Padre Pio ones said, “If all the devils that are here were to take bodily form, they would blot out the light of the sun!”, and he knew what he was talking about. Satan is an intelligent creature and for this reason his main targets are people of influence; priests, politicians, media and pop culture figures, teachers etc., knowing that with their help he can impact more people, be more successful in his evil plan. He is working 24 hour a day, seven days a week, trying to catch us in his traps.

We have to choose a side in this battle, “No one can serve two masters.” Serving God means fighting the devil, there is no neutrality in this war. We have to resist and fight temptations planted in our hearts, minds, in our body, influences coming from inside and outside. In our spiritual struggle it is important to recognize who the real adversary is. It makes it easier to forgive trespasses, to pray for enemies, to love and have compassion for them, and fight them with pure hearts, because we know that they are just poor puppets of devil.

In this war weapons are: prayer, pious practices, sacraments, especially the sacrament of penance, fighting bad habits, giving a good example to others, fulfilling our duty as a parent, neighbor, and citizen by standing up for what is right.

“Live and let live” is not the option.  We have to be “the salt of the earth” to serve God and by this service be made worthy of the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to fight Satan and oppose him by following the example of saints, and by standing strong prove that in the Catholic Church is the Truth.

On the Inquisition

Part 1 By Raymond de Souza, KM

In order to properly understand the historical event called ‘Inquisition’, a basic, primary distinction must be made: there were three distinct inquisition tribunals in History: the medieval Inquisition, the Roman Inquisition and the Spanish Inquisition. Let us consider them, one by one, as their circumstances and historical contexts were very different.

The Medieval Inquisition: If you think that the ISIS so-called ‘caliphate’ terrorist upsurge in the Middle East is a novelty in History, whereby a large sectarian movement takes hold of land and cities and attempts to set up a state within a State, you would be mistaken. It has already happened before, in the 12th and 13th Centuries. In areas of Southern Europe, especially France, the Cathari and the Albigensians made their appearance. They were nearly as radical as today’s Muslim terrorists of ISIS: they attacked the Catholic clergy (remember, in those happier days there was just one Church, one Lord, one Faith – the one Roman Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ. Protestantism and other “isms” were invented centuries later – but I digress).

Yes, they attacked the Clergy, destroyed churches and monasteries, caused many to die for the faith – martyrs – and the like. They introduced contraception in a weird way by opposing child-bearing as a curse, introduced immoral practices such as concubinage, euthanasia and a so-called ‘religious’ suicide by starvation. As they wanted to form a state within the State, they encouraged revolt against the civil government. They regarded themselves as exempt from taxes and were not bound by allegiance to anyone except their own members.
The result: the whole fabric of society, then a Catholic society, was threatened with serious disruption, both within Church and State.

I ask the Reader: if you lived in those days, what would you suggest the Church and the State to do? Let the medieval ISIS do as they pleased? Try to hold a “positive dialogue” with them? Or defend both the country and the Church from that destructive murderous threat?

There was not much soul-searching needed: The Church, then united with the State for the promotion of the Common Good, established the tribunal of the Inquisition – to make inquiries, that what it was called for – to investigate the charges of heresy. Remember: a heresy in those days had profound socio-economic-political consequences: it was not like the foundation of just another little Baptist church in the neighborhood, it was a threat to the stability and well-being of the nation as such. We must understand the historical context of the time.

It was around the year of Our Lord 1232. The Preaching Order of the Dominicans – Saint Dominic of Guzman, who received the Rosary from Our Lady, was himself an Inquisitor – and the Franciscans – founded by the great Saint Francis of Assisi, who were given the task to investigate the new heresy of the Cathari and Albigensians – the medieval version of ISIS.

Our response to ISIS today is a lot more severe – and rightly so – than the Medieval Inquisition. Its purpose was more often than not corrective. If the heretic recanted his error and became reconciled with the true Church and gave up his plan to form a state within the State, he would be given a penance, often a light one, like a fast, a pilgrimage, etc. If the heretic remained obdurate and insisted in continued his attempt to disrupt Church and State, he would be pronounced guilty by the Church and handed over to the State for punishment. Now it meant real trouble, to fall into the hands of the State, as kings did not see it too kindly a heresy that wanted to make a state within their State.

The State would pass sentence and the punishment would be a good deal of flogging, imprisonment, temporary or perpetual, confiscation of property and sometimes death.

Fact is that, officially the Church never condemned anyone to death – the State did. But it is true and good that the Church accepted the repression of the heresy by the State, since it posed not only a serious danger to society but especially a danger for the salvation of souls, which is the first and foremost mission of the Church. The Medieval Inquisition continued intermittently until the 16th Century.

The Roman Inquisition: In the year of Our Lord of 1542, Pope Paul III established a tribunal in Rome to organize and coordinate the work of the several small tribunals in the Italian states. Again, let us bear in mind the historical context: Italy was not a unified country as it is today. The unification of the Italian peninsula took place in the second half of the 19th century. When the Roman Inquisition was established, there were many small states in the peninsula, such as the Papal States, two independent republics, two independent Kingdoms, two kingdoms dependent on the Austrian Empire, One Grand Duchy, four Duchies and one principality. Now imagine the risk of confusion with having so many mini-tribunals run by a variety of Italians… (the last idea is a joke, of course…) So it became necessary to set up a central tribunal in Rome to coordinate the operations and also to establish a court of appeal for cases of heresy – that would also help prevent abuses.

In time it changed its name to the Tribunal of the Holy Office, and more recently to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, of which Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who was elected Pope with the name of Benedict XVI, was the Prefect for many years prior to his election to the Papacy.

This tribunal, Office, Congregation whichever name is chosen to give it, is a most necessary institution, especially in our days, where there are all sorts of heresies and sects that threaten the purity of the Faith in the Church – even heresies inside the Church are at work. It is a duty of the Church is to defend her children from error. The Roman Inquisition did its job at its time in the cultural atmosphere of the time. Like in every single human institution, there were abuses, although immensely less frequent than the Courts of Law of today – especially Supreme Courts who dare to legislate against human nature!

Raymond de Souza KM is available to speak at Catholic events anywhere in the free world in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Please email SacredHeartMedia@Outlook.com or visit www.RaymonddeSouza.com or phone 507-450-4196 in the United States