Good morning.
Welcome to Inquisition Update.
My name is Tom Friess and I'll be your host for the next hour.
You're listening to FirstAmendmentRadio .com.
Thanks for tuning in, everybody.
Now, continuing in Dave Hunt's book, A Woman Rides the Beast, Dave Hunt is
covering the portion of this book having to do with the papal dominion over kings.
You know, the scripture says, speaking of Vatican City, that great city which
reigneth over the kings of the earth.
We've talked about how the papacy controls the kings of the earth, and this
particular section of the chapter deals with papal dominion over England and
Ireland.
And we concluded yesterday's broadcast with this quote, It would be impossible to
enumerate the outrages and enormities practiced in England during this gloomy
period by kings and popes, who considered the assertion of any singular popular
right as a crime, which God had appointed them to punish.
More than a hundred murders were committed by ecclesiastics during the reign of Henry
II, in which the parties were not even punished.
The clergy had absolute power over their own body, and no appeal was allowed from
their decisions.
A layman forfeited his life by the crime of murder, but an ecclesiastic went
unpunished.
This was called one of the immunities of the clergy.
When the king tried to change the law to deal with the clergy, the pope refused his
sanction and denounced it as, quote, prejudicial to the church and destructive
of her privileges, unquote.
Looking back from today's perspective, such overt papal dominion over sovereigns
seems inconceivable, but it was in fact the norm for that day.
The popes literally ruled the entire known world for centuries, just exactly as the
Apostle John's vision foretold.
Now, continuing where we left off yesterday under the subtitle Pope Gregory
VII, the author writes, Before he became pope, as famous Hildebrand, Gregory VII
was the manipulating genius behind five other popes, including Alexander II.
Gregory began his pontificate, quote, by asserting the right to dispose
of kingdoms, in imitation of the example set by Pope Gregory I, the Great,
nearly 400 years before, unquote.
He declared that the power to, quote, bind and loose, unquote,
granted by Christ to Peter, gave the popes, quote, the right to make and unmake
kings, to construct and reconstruct governments, to wrestle from those who
obeyed all the territory held by them, and to bestow it upon those who would hold
it subject to the papal authority, unquote.
That's right.
If any king disobeyed the pope, the pope literally had the power to remove
from him all his territories, and give it to someone else.
Had he not read Revelation chapter 17, verse 18?
Gregory was the first pope to literally dethrone kings.
If he decided to depose the German emperor, Gregory simply said, quote,
to me is given power to bind and loose on earth and in heaven, unquote.
If he set his heart upon some property that belonged to others, Gregory simply
declared, as he had at his Roman Synod of 1080 AD, quote, we desire to show the
world that we can give or take away at our will kingdoms, duchies, earldoms,
in a word, the possession of all men, for we can bind and loose, unquote.
That's right.
We're not talking about just the kings of the earth.
We're talking about individual personal property.
The pope can redistribute the wealth of the world at his whim.
And that's what's implied in papal encyclicals and papal bulls.
The pope can redistribute the wealth of the world.
Now picture, for example, in 1077, the humbled Henry IV, supreme head of the
Holy Roman Empire and heir to Charlemagne, whom Pope Leo III had crowned emperor in
800 AD, crossing the Alps and forced to wait in penitence, barefoot and in a hair
cloth shirt in the snow, outside the castle of Canossa to make his peace with
Pope Gregory VII, claiming to be, quote, king of kings, unquote.
Pope Gregory, because of a quarrel with Henry, had declared, quote, on the part of
God omnipotent, I forbid Henry to govern the kingdoms of Italy and Germany.
I absolve all subjects from every oath they have taken, and I excommunicate every
person who shall serve him as king, unquote.
Henry had no defense against that stupor weapon of the pope's.
Thus was established the magnificent horror portrayed by John in Revelation
chapter 17, headquartered in a city located upon seven hills, verse 9,
and which, quote, reigneth over the kings of the earth, unquote, verse 18.
One 18th century historian counted 95 popes who claimed to have divine power to
depose kings.
There's no other city which meets these criteria.
John's vision had been remarkably accurate.
The bloodiest pontiff of Innocent III, who reigned from 1198 to 1216,
whom he says, quote, encompassed Christendom with terror for close to 20
years, Peter De Rosa writes, quote, he crowned and deposed sovereigns,
put nations under interdict, virtually created the papal states across central
Italy from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic.
He had not lost a single battle.
In pursuit of his aims, he shed more blood than any other pontiff, unquote.
Desiring to put Otho of Saxony on the German throne, Innocent wrote,
quote, by the authority which God has given us in the person of St. Peter,
we declare you king, and we order the people to render you, in this capacity,
homage and obedience.
We, however, shall expect you to subscribe to all our desires as a return for the
imperial crown, unquote.
Pope Innocent III's, quote, proud spirit chafed at the thought that any earthly
potentate should equal him, either in greatness or in authority.
Therefore, he required that, quote, all disputes between princes, unquote,
should be referred to him.
And if either party should refuse, quote, to obey the sentence of Rome,
he was to be excommunicated and deposed, unquote.
And a like penalty was to be visited upon those who refused to attack whatever,
quote, refractory delinquent, unquote, he should point out.
In other words, the popes could seat and unseat kings, and they could also order
one kingdom to go to war against another.
The Bible makes it clear.
Now, as Eller and Moral remind us, quote, the papacy became not only the
highest authority in respect of international jurisdiction, being entitled
to judge kings and princes, but secular potentates also sought the pope's sanction
in major changes of their international position, such as acquisition of new
territories or titles, unquote.
John Lackland, King of England, made the mistake of having a violent
quarrel with Pope Innocent III.
Quote, after attempting resistance, he completely submitted to Rome,
surrendered his royal crown to Pope Innocent III, and received it back again
from him as a vassal of the Holy See, unquote.
That's right, King John of England, surrendering to the papacy, removed his
crown, set it down before his feet, and let the pope pick it up and put it
back on his head, literally making John and England a vassal of the pope.
The document dated May 15, 1213 A.D.
is known as, quote, King John Lackland's infudation to Pope Innocent III.
And it's included in the index of this book.
R.
W.
Thompson adds his insight to this event.
Quote, forfeitures, interdicts, excommunications, and every other form of
ecclesiastical censure and punishment were of almost daily occurrence.
Even such monarchs as Philip Augustus and Henry IV quailed before him, that is,
Innocent III.
And Peter II of Aragon and John of England ignominiously consented to convert their
kingdoms into spiritual fiefs, and to hold them in subordination to him,
upon the condition of paying an annual tribute.
That's right, they were now to pay their oppressor for oppressing them.
That's the papacy.
Yet more evidence, Dave Hunt writes, Gregory IX, who reigned from 1227 to 1241
A.D., who established a Holy Roman Inquisition, and the handing of heritage
to the secular powers for execution, thundered that the Pope was lord and
master of everyone and everything.
Pope Innocent IV, who reigned from 1243 to 1254, agreed, because, as he argued,
the popes did not get their dominion merely from the donation of Constantine,
but already had it from God.
Boniface VIII went further, and in his bull, Unum Sanctum of 1302 A.D.,
in which he claimed authority over all temporal powers, made absolute obedience
to the Pope a condition of salvation.
That's right, he says, it is absolutely necessary for every human being to be
subject to the Roman Pontiff.
That's Unum Sanctum, a papal bull.
Papal thunder.
You cannot go to hell unless the Pope be your savior.
That's blasphemy.
Nuclear-powered blasphemy.
And everybody wonders today, who is going to be the Antichrist?
Unbelievable darkness.
By the time of the death of Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, upon whose neck Pope
Alexander III had placed his conquering foot, it had long been understood that,
quote, nobody could acquire the imperial crown without coronation by the Pope,
unquote.
Quoting again, Emperor Charles IV secured peace and final harmony with the papacy by
renouncing any imperial activity in the whole of Italy, leaving the Popes to
govern there, and this self-restriction was observed by subsequent emperors until
the end of the Middle Ages, unquote.
Pope Julius II, who reigned from 1503 to 1513, furious because Louis XII of France
wouldn't support him in his military campaigns, drew up a papal bull depriving
him of his kingdom and giving it to Henry VIII of England, provided he proved his
piety by supporting the Pope in his wars.
Supporting the Pope in his wars, that's what England was expected to do,
just like America today.
Julius died before the bull was published.
The Pope's passion for fighting, quote-unquote, holy wars to extend the
papal territories inspired Michelangelo, whom he had hired to paint the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel, to pen famous words so apropos to Julius and many other Popes,
quote, of chalices they make helmet and sword and sell by the bucket the blood of
the Lord, unquote.
In a recent article in a national Catholic newspaper, a priest confessed,
quote, the church was subverted by the ambitions of such men as Gregory VII,
Innocent III, Boniface VII, into a political ecclesiastical institution,
wielding totalitarian power in both sacred and secular fields, unquote.
He fails to mention that the dogmas and claims of Rome remain the same today as
they were then.
The Roman Catholic Church has not changed.
Only circumstances force her to vary her tactics.
The open threats and aggression of a Gregory VII won't work in today's world,
says Dave Hunt.
Though wielded more subtly, however, the Vatican's power, listen to this,
the Vatican's power is no less effective today than it ever was.
No less effective today than it ever was.
That means the Pope still rules over the kings of the earth.
If that's not true, then the Bible is a liar.
And if you see corruption in the American government, then you have to concede.
It's because the Pope rules over the President of the United States,
and the Congress, and the Supreme Court.
One author who spent a lifetime analyzing and writing about the Vatican concluded,
quote, The Vatican is the paramount superpower of our times.
Its adherents, nearly one billion, can be made to operate in every corner of
the world.
Hence the importance for every government of having the Pope as a partner in the
pursuance of any given world policy.
Vatican policies are directed by the Pope, who has neither Parliament, Congress,
or Senate, or any similar democratic body.
Limiting his decisions, powers, or policies, he is an absolute autocratic
ruler in the fullest meaning of the word.
Unquote.
Are you convinced?
Now, not only is it that city, that great city which reigneth over the
kings of the earth, she's also got a golden cup in her hand.
Kings dwell in palaces, are waited upon by servants, and because of their absolute
authority over their subjects, accumulate great wealth.
It will therefore be expected that a city which reigns over the kings of the earth
would be the wealthiest of all.
Such is the case with the woman astride the beast in Revelation 17.
That fact is surely signified by, quote, gold, and precious stones and
pearls, unquote, with which she is adorned as well as by the, quote, golden cup in
her hand, unquote, Revelation 17.4.
That the golden cup is, quote, full of abominations and filthiness,
unquote, indicates that her wealth has been acquired through abominable means.
Cardinal Baronius, though a defender of the papacy, confessed that in St. Peter's
chair have sat monsters, quote, filled with fleshly lusts and cunning in
all forms of wickedness, having prostituted the chair of St. Peter for
their minions and paramours, unquote.
In his 16th century ecclesiastical annals, he wrote, quote, the Roman Catholic Church
was covered with silks and precious stones, which publicly prostituted itself
for gold.
Never did priests, and especially popes, commit so many adulteries, rapes,
incest, robberies, and murders as in the Middle Ages, unquote.
Petrarch, poet laureate of the empire, described the papal court at Avignon,
France, scornfully, as, quote, the shame of mankind, a sink of vice,
a sewer where is gathered all the filth of the world.
There God is held in contempt.
Money alone is worshipped, and the laws of God and men are trampled underfoot.
Everything there breathes a lie, the air, the earth, the houses,
and above all, the bedrooms, unquote.
Referring to Avignon again as, quote, the Babylon of the West,
unquote, Petrarch declared, quote, here reign the successors of the poor
fishermen of Galilee, loaded with gold and clad in purple, boasting of the spoils of
princes and nations.
Instead of holy solitude, we find a criminal host.
Instead of soberness, licentious banquets.
Instead of the bare feet of the apostles, horses decked in gold and fed on gold,
soon to be shod with gold, if the Lord does not check this slavish luxury,
unquote.
Of Rome's wealth in the Middle Ages, Peter DeRosa says, quote, the cardinals
had huge palaces with countless servants.
One papal aide reported that he never went to see a cardinal without finding him
counting his gold coins.
The Curia was made up of men who had bought office and were desperate to recoup
their enormous outlay.
For every beneficence of sea, abbey, and parish, for every indulgence,
there was a set fee.
The pallium, a two-inch wide woolen band with crosses embroidered on it,
paid for by every bishop, brought in hundreds of millions of gold florins to
the papal coffers.
The Council of Basel of 1432 was to call it, quote, the most usurious contrivance
ever invented, unquote.
Peter DeRosa continues, quote, dispensations were another source of papal
revenue.
Extremely severe, even impossible, laws were passed so that the Curia could
grow rich by selling dispensations such as from fasting during Lent.
Marriage, in particular, was a rich source of income.
Consanguinity was alleged to hold between couples who had never dreamed they were
related.
Dispensations from consanguinity in order to marry amounted to a million gold
florins a year, unquote.
An eyewitness account from Spain.
This one will grab you.
D.
Antonio Gavin, author of the book entitled A Master Key to Potpourri, which we'll get
to eventually here on Inquisition Update, was born and educated in Spain at the end
of 1600s.
As a Roman Catholic priest, he had become thoroughly disillusioned by the evil in
which he found himself entangled.
Fleeing the Spanish Inquisition disguised in an army officer's uniform, Gavin made
his way to safety in England.
His book gives a clear picture of Roman Catholicism in his day and has much to say
about the incredible wealth and the part it played in the practice of Rome's
paganized Christianity, unquote.
Now listen to this.
In the Cathedral of St. Salvatore, also known as Zaragoza, there are 10,000
ounces of silver in plate, part of it gilt, to adorn the two corners of the
altar on great festivals and an abundance of rich ornaments for priests of
inexpressible value.
84 chalices, 20 of pure gold and 64 of silver gilt on the inside of the cup and
the rich chalice which only the Archbishop makes use of in his pontifical dress.
All these things are but trifles in comparison with the great custodia they
make use of to carry the great host through the streets in the festival of
Corpus Christi.
Now we're talking about a fixture commonly called a monstrance where they place the
piece of bread known as the host.
I call it the Jesus cookie.
It was set in solid gold.
Excuse me, this fixture, this custodia, this monstrance was solid gold set with
diamonds, emeralds and other precious stones.
It was 500 pounds weight.
Several goldsmiths have endeavored to value this piece, but nobody could set a
certain sum on it.
And that's the end of the quote.
Imagine a monstrance, 500 pounds weight, completely covered in the most valuable
stones just to carry their Jesus cookie around.
Wealth incalculable.
We'll return right after this.
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Welcome back to the second half of the program, Inquisition Update continuing in
Dave Hunt's book, A Woman Rides the Beast.
Anthony Gavin saw more than just this 500-pound monster to carry the Jesus
cookie.
500-pound solid weight built by goldsmiths who couldn't even estimate its value.
That's not all that Gavin saw.
He says the most famous church in Saragossa is called Our Lady of the Pillar
because of an alleged appearance of the Virgin there.
Now, you must understand that this church is dedicated to this apparition known as
Mary.
This demonic apparition known as Mary who allegedly appeared there.
And there's an image or a statue of the Virgin in this church.
Now, Gavin describes the crown on the image of the Virgin.
She's wearing a fancy crown.
This little Mary dolly that is the feature of this church.
A dolly, I call it.
It's a statue.
She dons a 25-pound weight crown set all over with large diamonds so that nobody
can even see the gold in it.
And everybody thinks it's all made of diamonds.
You understand a 25-pound solid gold crown that is so densely encrusted with diamonds
that you can't see the gold at all.
It looks like a diamond crown just made of diamonds.
He says, besides this rich one, remember this is just a dolly in the
church.
An image made with hands to represent a demonic apparition known as Mary.
I mean, we've all seen these Marian statues, have we not?
The little dollies of the Roman Catholic Church that they so much adore.
They dress them up in the costliest array.
He says, besides this rich crown that is supposedly 25 pounds solidly encrusted
with diamonds so that none of the gold is even visible.
Besides this rich one, she has six crowns more of pure gold set with rich diamonds
and emeralds.
He goes on to say, the roses of diamonds and other precious stones she has to adorn
her mantle are innumerable.
For though she, the image of the Virgin, the little dolly, is dressed every day in
the color of the church's festival and never uses twice in a year the same
mantle.
Which is of the best stuff embroidered with gold.
She has new roses of precious stones every day for three years together.
She has 365 necklaces of pearls and diamonds and six chains of gold set with
diamonds which are put on her mantle on the feast festivals, on the great
festivals of Christ.
So this little dolly of Mary in this church in Saragossa, Spain, Our Lady of
the Pillar, has costumes made of incalculable wealth.
So much so that she never has to wear the same outfit twice in one year.
And some of her arraignments are so plentiful that she doesn't have to wear
the same one for three years.
The little dolly of Mary.
A dolly.
A statue.
This is incredible.
He says a visitor to Saragossa today might enter the treasure room to see some of
this wealth.
The Virgin has a different skirt for each day of the year, embroidered with gold and
set with diamonds and other precious stones.
Another image of silver, five feet high.
That's right, another dolly.
This one, a solid silver, is five feet tall, is set with precious stones,
and wears a diamond studded crown of pure gold.
In the early 1700s, quote, the Right Honorable Lord Stanhope, then General of
the English Forces, unquote, was shown the treasure.
Gavin was present and heard the General explain, quote, If all the kings of Europe
could gather together all their treasures and precious stones, they could not buy
half of the riches in this treasury, unquote.
Such was the wealth 280 years ago in one cathedral in one small city in Spain.
The Vatican's incredible riches have been accumulated at the expense of the people
in even the poorest countries.
At the time of Mexico's Civil War, the Roman Catholic Church there owned
from, quote, one-third to one-half of all the land of the nation, and about half of
all the property in Mexico City.
Its revenues from tithes, masses, and the sales of devotional articles such
as statues, little dollies, medals, rosaries, and the like, amounted to
between six and eight million dollars annually, while its total revenues reached
the astronomical figure of twenty million dollars.
This drain on the poor country of Mexico was equal to the operating expense of the
entire United States government during these same years, unquote.
We bring this lamentable recital to a close.
There can be no doubt that John's remarkable vision had come to pass.
A city on seven hills, sainted with wealth, which claimed a special
relationship to God and Christ, literally ruled over the kings of the
earth.
As with the other identifying criteria John provides, there's only one city in
history, and only one city today, which passes this test.
The Vatican.
Vatican City.
Peter DeRosa reminds us of what must have shocked the Apostle John, quote,
Jesus renounced possessions.
He constantly taught, quote, Go, sell all that thou hast and give to the
poor, then come and follow me, unquote.
He preached doom to the rich and powerful.
Christ Vicar lives surrounded by treasures, some of pagan origin.
Any suggestion that the Pope should sell all that he has and give to the poor is
greeted with derision as impractical.
The rich young man in the gospel reacted the very same way.
Throughout his life, Jesus lived simply.
He died naked, offering the sacrifice of his life on the cross.
When the Pope renews that sacrifice at the Pontifical High Mass, no greater contrast
could be imagined.
Without any sense of irony, Christ Vicar, the Pope, is clad in gold and the
costliest silks.
The Pope has a dozen glorious titles, including State Sovereign.
The Pope's aides also have titles somewhat unexpected in the light of the Sermon on
the Mount.
Excellency, Eminence, Your Grace, My Lord, Illustrious One, Most Reverend,
and so on.
Peter, always penniless, would be intrigued to know that according to Canon
1518, his successor is, quote, the supreme administrator and manager of
all church properties, unquote.
Also, the Vatican has its own bank.
The Vatican has its own bank.
The most lawless, the most notorious, the most corrupt laundering machine in the
country.
In the world.
And no earthly power can bring that bank to account for its intrigues.
The Vatican has gathered its incalculable fortune through the most abominable means.
Selling bogus tickets to heaven.
Nino Lobello, former Rome correspondent for Businessweek, calls the Vatican,
quote, the tycoon on the Tiber, unquote, because of its incredible wealth
in worldwide enterprises.
His research indicates that it owns fully one-third of Rome's real estate.
And is probably the largest holder of stocks and bonds in the world.
To say nothing of its ownership of industries, from electronics to plastics,
to airlines, to chemical and engineering firms.
In his September of 1993 trip to the Baltic countries, quote, the Pope was an
unusually stern critic of unbridled capitalism.
In a speech that hinted of more to come, the Pope said, capitalistic ideology was
responsible for, quote, grave social injustices, unquote, and that Marxism's
kernel of truth lay in seeing capitalism's faults, unquote.
One marvels at the hypocrisy of such statements coming from the head of a
church, which is the biggest capitalist in the world.
Nino Lobello suggests that the church shed its, quote, mantle of piety, then at last
the Vatican will expose the full extent of its financial interests, unquote.
The woman riding the beast has used her wealth and power to subdue kings and
kingdoms, and to slaughter millions, who though they were subject to civil
authority, could not accept her heresies.
To this day, that golden cup overflows with the blood of those who, for
conscience sake, were martyred for their faith.
That's the end of chapter 16.
Chapter 17, entitled, Blood of the Martyrs, is preceded again by some very
important quotes.
This from John Anton Lorente, Secretary of the Spanish Inquisition, from 1790 to
1792, quote.
The horrid conduct of this holy office, the Inquisition, weakened the power and
diminished the population of Spain by arresting the progress of arts,
sciences, industry and commerce, and by compelling multitudes of families
to abandon the kingdom.
By instigating the expulsion of the Jews and the Moors, and by immolating on its
flaming shambles more than 300,000 victims.
Another quote by the Comte Lemaistre of 1815, quote.
The Inquisition is, in its very nature, good, mild and preservative.
It is the universal, indelible character of every ecclesiastical institution.
You see it in Rome, and you can see it wherever the true church has power,
unquote.
And here, from an anonymous Catholic, quote.
It would be better to be an atheist than believe in the God of the Inquisition,
unquote.
Now, back to the chapter, Blood of the Martyrs.
She's drunk with the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
This church, called Roman Catholic, supposedly a Christian church.
Dave Hunt writes, the quotations on the facing page present two opposing
viewpoints, both by Catholics.
Only one is right.
We learn the truth from John's vision, and from history.
The woman astride the beast is, quote, drunken with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
See Revelation chapter 17, verse 6.
It is a horrible picture, but one which history fully authenticates for Rome alone
and no other city.
Every citizen in the empire was required to be a Roman Catholic.
Failure to give wholehearted allegiance to the Pope was considered treason,
against the state, punishable by death.
There was the basis for, here rather, here was the basis for slaughtering
millions.
As Islam would be a few centuries later, a paganized Christianity was imposed upon
the entire populace of Europe under the threat of torture and death.
Thus Roman Catholicism became, quote, the most persecuting faith the
world has ever seen, commanding the throne to impose the Christian, or rather the
Roman Catholic religion on all of its subjects.
Pope Innocent III murdered far more Christians in one afternoon than any Roman
emperor did in his entire reign.
Will Durant writes candidly, quote, Compared with the persecution of heresy in
Europe from 1227 to 1492, the persecution of Christians by Romans in the first three
centuries after Christ was mild and humane in comparison.
Making every allowance required by an historian and permitted to a Christian,
we must rank the Inquisition, along with the wars and persecutions of our time,
as among the darkest blots on the record of mankind, revealing a ferocity unknown
in any beast, unquote.
Poignant choice of words there, wasn't it?
Of course, not all dissenters openly proclaimed their disloyalty to Rome.
There were secret heretics who had to be sought out diligently.
The method devised was the Inquisition.
In the opinion of Egyptian and author Rolo Ahmed, quote, The most pitiless and
ferocious institution the world has ever known, unquote, in its destruction of
lives, property, morals, and human rights.
Lord Acton, a Roman Catholic, called the Inquisition murderous and declared that
the popes, quote, were not only murderers in the great style, but they made murder a
legal basis for the Christian church and a condition of salvation, unquote.
There's no absolution for Rome.
Roman Catholic apologists deceitfully tried to absolve their church of any
responsibility in the actual burnings of heretics.
They claimed that the Inquisition was the work of the state.
On the contrary, quote, The binding force of laws against heretics lay not in the
authority of secular princes, but in the sovereign dominion of life and death over
all Christians claimed by the popes as God's representatives on earth,
as Pope Innocent III expressly states it, unquote.
The penalties were executed by the civil authorities, but only as the secular arm
of the church.
Innocent III commanded the Archbishop of Aachen in Gascony, quote, We give you
strict command that by whatever means you can, you destroy all these heresies.
You may cause the princes and people to suppress them with the sword, unquote.
The Pope offered, quote, a plenary indulgence to the king and nobles of
France for aid in suppressing the Catharist heresy.
To Philip Augustus, in return for such aid, the Pope offered the lands of all who
should fail to join in the crusade against the Albigensians, unquote.
Comte Lemaistre, in his letter written in 1815 to justify the Spanish Inquisition,
states that it existed, quote, by virtue of the bull of the sovereign
pontiff, unquote, and that the grand inquisitor, quote, is always either an
archbishop or a bishop, unquote.
If the authorities refused to execute the condemned, they would themselves be
brought before the tribunal and consigned to the flames.
It was the Popes themselves who invented the Inquisition and saw that it was
carried out.
Pope Gregory IX, in 1233, handed over the office of the Inquisition in permanence to
the Dominicans, because always to be exercised in the name and by the authority
of the Pope, unquote.
As already noted, quote, of the 80 Popes in a line from the 13th century on,
not one of them disapproved of the theology and apparatus of the Inquisition.
On the contrary, one after another added his own cruel touches to the workings of
this deadly machine, unquote.
We are not quoting Protestants or ex-Catholics here, but Catholic
historians.
Listen to the leading 19th century Catholic professor of church history,
quote, Through the influence of Gratian, an unwearied activity of the Popes and
their legate since 1183 A.D., the view of the church had been that every departure
from the teachings of the church and every important opposition to any ecclesiastical
ordinances must be punished with death and the most cruel of deaths by fire.
Innocent III declared the mere refusal to swear, and the opinion that oaths were
unlawful, a heresy worthy of death, and directed that whoever differed in any
respect from the common way of life of the multitude should be treated as a heretic.
Both the initiation and carrying out of this new principle must be ascribed to the
Popes alone.
It was the Popes who compelled bishops and priests to condemn the heterodox to
torture, confiscation of their goods, imprisonment and death, and to enforce the
execution of this sentence on the civil authorities under pain of excommunication.
From 1200 to 1500 A.D., the long series of papal ordinances on the Inquisition,
ever increasing in severity and cruelty, and their whole policy toward heresy,
runs on without a break.
It is a rigidly consistent system of legislation.
Every Pope confirms and improves upon the devices of his predecessor.
All is directed to one end, of completely uprooting every difference of belief.
It was only the absolute dictation of the Popes, and the notion of their
infallibility in all questions of evangelical morality, that made the
Christian world accept the Inquisition, which contradicted the simplest principles
of Christian justice and love to our neighbor, and would have been rejected
with universal horror in the ancient church." Far from being its originators,
civil authorities often tried to resist the Inquisition, but they could not.
Forced to carry out the sentence, executioners sometimes, quote,
strangled the condemned before lighting them aflames, unquote.
Such acts of deficient mercy were unfortunately the rare exception.
A few compassionate voices were raised within the church.
Quote, St. Bernard pointed out that Christ had expressly forbidden the line of
conduct afterwards described by the Popes, and that it could only multiply hypocrites
and confirm and increase the hatred of mankind against a bloodthirsty and
persecuting church and clergy.
Unquote.
But most clergy agreed with the Popes.
So what does that say about the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church?
Are they an exception?
Are they just unwilling, obedient slaves of the Popes?
No, they are participants.
How about papal decrees?
We often learn of secular resistance from papal decrees overruling it.
Will Duran informs us that in 1521, Pope Leo X issued the bull Onestos,
which, quote, ordered the excommunication of any officials and the suppression of
religious services in any community that refused to execute without examination or
revision the sentences of the inquisitors.
Unquote.
Consider Clement V's rebuke of King Edward II.
Quote, We hear that you forbid torture as contrary to the laws of your land,
but no state law can override the church's canon law, our law.
Therefore, I command you at once to submit those men to torture.
Unquote.
Pope Urban II, who reigned from 1088 to 1099, inspirer of the First Crusade,
decreed that all heretics were to be tortured and killed.
That became a dogma of the church.
Acclaimed as the angelic doctor, even St. Thomas Aquinas taught that
non-Catholics or heretics could, after a second warning, be legitimately
killed.
His exact words are, quote, They have merited to be excluded from the earth by
death.
Unquote.
Pope Martin V, who reigned from 1417 to 1431, commanded the King of Poland in 1429
to exterminate the Hussites, who were sympathizers with the martyred John Huss,
who had fought back and had routed the Pope's army.
The following from the Pope's letter to the King reinforces what we know of the
evil of papal totalitarianism and tells us why Popes hated the Hussites and other
independent Christians and wanted them destroyed.
Quote, Know that the interests of the Holy See and those of your crown make it a duty
to exterminate the Hussites.
Remember that these impious persons dare proclaim principles of equality.
They maintain that all Christians are brethren and that God has not given up to
privileged men the right of ruling the nations.
And I see we've run out of time.
We'll return to this quote when we get back from the weekend on Monday.
It's been my pleasure to host Inquisition Update this week.
Pray for me.
Email me tom at cwaves.us and I'll see you Monday.
Thanks for listening.
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