This is Devon --
NEVILLE Wheelan's letter in The Herald of Wednesday June 12, is riddled with inaccuracies. Unfortunately for his attempt to exonerate the Catholic church from blame for past misdemeanours, the Catholic church invented the inquisition, in Spain and elsewhere.The courts were convened by that church, presided over by its clerics and those brought before them were accused of heresy or apostasy by the church. The church could not have been much more involved. It was an extension of the courts associated with the persecution of the Cathars in France, which was also in the long tradition of persecution of other Christians begun at the start of the Catholic church in the late 4th century. Its first victims were the Arian Christians, condemned as heretics. The intolerance of the Catholic church affected all those who dared think differently, not just in obviously religious terms, but scientists etc, example Galileo. No doubt Darwin and others would have suffered as he did had they been within the church's power.
As for the Catholic church's relations with Nazism; Pope Pius 12th agreed a concordat with Hitler. Some Catholics did indeed suffer just as some Protestant pastors did, but because they spoke out, NOT because they were Catholic. Dr Goebels, very close to Hitler, was a devout Catholic to the end. The church did not condemn Nazism. Mr Wheelan did not mention the various vile fascist regimes that the church supported in Europe, i.e. Salazar in Portugal, Franco in Spain, Horthy in Hungary and Mussolini in Italy. The church supported, and benefited from, those and regimes equally bad in the Americas, until very recently.
Respecting one another does not mean that we should whitewash the past. It also does not mean that we should give over the social, moral and psychological welfare of children over to an institution that too often has been shown to have abused the trust placed in it. Is it not Catholic clerics who preach 'hate the sin, not the sinner' and then preach about the sin? What is sauce for the goose…
The Catholic church has a history of moralising about and condemning those with whom it disagrees. Its present lack of coercive power in the UK seems to be the only reason it wants to 'talk'. The figures show its numbers dwindling and its influence washing away, across all of Europe. I have no doubt that there are numerous examples of good acts done by Catholics that could be quoted, that does not justify the continued privileged and excessively respected position of the Catholic church today.
RICHARD LAWRIE
Via email Reported by This is 20 hours ago.
NEVILLE Wheelan's letter in The Herald of Wednesday June 12, is riddled with inaccuracies. Unfortunately for his attempt to exonerate the Catholic church from blame for past misdemeanours, the Catholic church invented the inquisition, in Spain and elsewhere.The courts were convened by that church, presided over by its clerics and those brought before them were accused of heresy or apostasy by the church. The church could not have been much more involved. It was an extension of the courts associated with the persecution of the Cathars in France, which was also in the long tradition of persecution of other Christians begun at the start of the Catholic church in the late 4th century. Its first victims were the Arian Christians, condemned as heretics. The intolerance of the Catholic church affected all those who dared think differently, not just in obviously religious terms, but scientists etc, example Galileo. No doubt Darwin and others would have suffered as he did had they been within the church's power.
As for the Catholic church's relations with Nazism; Pope Pius 12th agreed a concordat with Hitler. Some Catholics did indeed suffer just as some Protestant pastors did, but because they spoke out, NOT because they were Catholic. Dr Goebels, very close to Hitler, was a devout Catholic to the end. The church did not condemn Nazism. Mr Wheelan did not mention the various vile fascist regimes that the church supported in Europe, i.e. Salazar in Portugal, Franco in Spain, Horthy in Hungary and Mussolini in Italy. The church supported, and benefited from, those and regimes equally bad in the Americas, until very recently.
Respecting one another does not mean that we should whitewash the past. It also does not mean that we should give over the social, moral and psychological welfare of children over to an institution that too often has been shown to have abused the trust placed in it. Is it not Catholic clerics who preach 'hate the sin, not the sinner' and then preach about the sin? What is sauce for the goose…
The Catholic church has a history of moralising about and condemning those with whom it disagrees. Its present lack of coercive power in the UK seems to be the only reason it wants to 'talk'. The figures show its numbers dwindling and its influence washing away, across all of Europe. I have no doubt that there are numerous examples of good acts done by Catholics that could be quoted, that does not justify the continued privileged and excessively respected position of the Catholic church today.
RICHARD LAWRIE
Via email Reported by This is 20 hours ago.