50 Million dead in Inquisition

[SolaSaint]

http://arcticbeacon.com/books/Plaisted-Estimates_Number_Killed_by_the_Papacy-2006.pdf

I have never studied the Inquisition by the Roman Catholic Church and I listened to a radio show by Chris Pinto where he stated there was 68 Million killed entirely. I did a little research and found it couldn't be proved but many still believe over 50 million were put to death from 600 AD to mid 19th century by the Popery. WOW! I had no idea it was this many. I thought it may have been a few thousand or maybe even one million, but 50-68 million people, in a time where the entire population of Europe was not that many.

Has anyone done a good study of this? If so what have you found about this? I would love to hear how many were really killed and what for. Thanks

 

[Salty]

I found a couple of websites to get you started:

# 1

# 2

 

[Crabtownboy]

I seriously doubt there were 50 million people in all of Europe at that time.

 

[BobRyan]

The long sealed inquisition archives - held back to protect the RCC.

Many saw in a contrasting light Ratzinger's planning and overseeing of the opening of the long-sealed Inquisition archives, making available at the beginning of 1998 all materials up to the 1903 death of Pope Leo XIII. However, the lag behind availability of other Vatican archives (at that point open up to the death of Pope Benedict XV (1922) and, since Ratzinger became Pope himself, up to the death of Pope Pius XI (1939)), has led to some criticism; it is still unclear what the Vatican's plan for future accessibility to post-1903 Holy Office archives is, nothing having been said since 1998 regarding whether and when they will be made available to scholars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph...he_Congregation_for_the_Doctrine_of_the_Faith

I recall something about Ratzinger claiming that 25 million (or was it 50) were killed in the inquisition but only about half the numbers killed were retained in the records.

in Christ,

Bob

 

[BobRyan]

I seriously doubt there were 50 million people in all of Europe at that time. [/QUOTE]

Trying to use the argument that there were not enough people for the RCC to have killed 50 million is based on rejecting the Bible statements on the millions that were in wars just in the tiny section of the middle east - long before the RCC came along "as if" humanity was not at that level -- no matter what the Bible says to the contrary.


Sad but true- that is their defense.

in Christ,

Bob

 

[Bro. James]

Interesting: how the keepers of the records have been cooking the books. This is also a modern day malady of the human kind.

This is a lot of lack of accountability smokescreen, kind of like the WWII holocaust of the Jews. Things like this become muddled by historians guided by the author of confusion.

Fact: there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Christians(?) were killing Christians and Jews, etal for many centuries.

An accurate tally is not a requirement. Ethnic cleansing is still alive and well on planet earth.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Bro. James

 

[kyredneck]

Just providing some balance and objectivity here. This is the text of part of the Mass in Rome on March 12, 2000 in which Pope John Paul II offered a Universal Confession of Sins and Request for Forgiveness

http://www.lafond.us/pagans/Papal_Apology/apology.htm

MEMORY AND RECONCILIATION: THE CHURCH AND THE FAULTS OF THE PAST
December 1999

http://www.lafond.us/pagans/Papal_Apology/MemAndRec.htm

...in other words, the RCC has at least acknowledged and attempted to apologize and ask forgiveness for it's past sins.

Concerning "the WWII holocaust of the Jews", and, "sufficient evidence to conclude that Christians(?) were killing Christians and Jews, etal for many centuries", the general tendency among many is to ignore, or turn a blind eye to the invert, 'Jews killing Christians'.

http://www.ukemonde.com/zhydy/jewsandcommunism.html

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v14/v14n1p-4_Weber.html

http://ihr.org/mwreport/2012-01-18

After the Bolshevik takeover of Russia in 1918 and several other Jewish Communist revolts in Europe, the Jews were widely viewed throughout Europe as dangerous troublemaking revolutionaries, no one wanted them. This is why Hitler had lots of cooperation from occupied countries in rounding them up and shipping them off.

 

[Aaron]

http://arcticbeacon.com/books/Plaisted-Estimates_Number_Killed_by_the_Papacy-2006.pdf

I have never studied the Inquisition by the Roman Catholic Church and I listened to a radio show by Chris Pinto where he stated there was 68 Million killed entirely. I did a little research and found it couldn't be proved but many still believe over 50 million were put to death from 600 AD to mid 19th century by the Popery. WOW! I had no idea it was this many. I thought it may have been a few thousand or maybe even one million, but 50-68 million people, in a time where the entire population of Europe was not that many.

Has anyone done a good study of this? If so what have you found about this? I would love to hear how many were really killed and what for. Thanks

Preposterous. It's an attempt to present the errors of the church as more heinous than the crimes of atheists. Millions starved and were persecuted by Socialists, but no where near 50 million.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Preposterous. It's an attempt to present the errors of the church as more heinous than the crimes of atheists. Millions starved and were persecuted by Socialists, but no where near 50 million.

The best estimate of starvation in China during The Bitter Years is 45 million. There are other estimates. No one really know or will ever know. This was from 1958 to 1962. That is only in few years.

The starvation instigated by Stalin in the Ukrine has been estimated as up to 10 million.

The figure 50 million killed during the inquisition is fiction, perhaps dreamed up by someone with an ax to grind.

 

[kyredneck]

Mass killings under Communist regimes

"Mass killings occurred under some Communist regimes during the twentieth century with an estimated death toll numbering between 85 and 100 million."

 

[preachinjesus]

50 million is simply not possible.

A much lower number is certainly more reasonable. Though the Inquisition is a terrible moment and continual blight on Christianity, 50 million is simply wrong.

Now the larger issue is what aspect of the Inquisition are we dealing with, this isn't a one time event. But even putting the disparate events together the number barely gets to 1 million, not nearly close to 50 million.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Fifty million, nine million, one million -- all absurd and grossly exaggerated numbers. The media want everyone to think the faith has been the cause of millions of deaths, but won't even consider that nearly 50 million have died due to abortion over the last 41 years. They won't discuss that, because they won't call it "murder."

According to Professor Agostino Borromeo, Governor-General of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, about 125,000 persons were investigated by the Spanish Inquisition, of which 2,250 were executed. Most of these deaths occurred in the first decade and a half of the Inquisition's 350 year history. In Portugal of the 13,000 tried in the 16th and early 17th century 741 were said to have been condemned to death. Writers of the time did not report if Portugal's higher percentage included those sentenced to death in effigy, i.e. an image burnt instead of the actual person.

Historian Gustav Henningsen reported that statistical tabulations of 50,000 recorded cases tried by nineteen Spanish tribunals between 1540-1700 sentenced 775 people to be executed while another 700 were sentenced to death in effigy ("El 'banco de datos' del Santo Oficio: Las relaciones de causas de la Inquisición española, 1550-1700", BRAH, 174, 1977).

Jewish historian Steven Katz remarked on the Medieval Inquisition that "in its entirety, the thirteenth and fourteenth century Inquisition put very few people to death and sent few people to prison; 90 percent of its sentences were canonical penances" (The Holocaust in Historical Context, 1994).

Placing the number as high as one million, much less 50 million, is intellectual dishonesty and slander, though there is absolutely no defense for the slaughter that did occur. But others on this thread are absolutely correct: Ghengis Kahn, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin were all much more obscene mass murders than the Catholic Church.

 

[SolaSaint]

I found a couple of websites to get you started:

# 1

# 2

Thanks Salty...good stuff.

 

[SolaSaint]

After a little research I have found many opposing claims. Many say 25-100 Million killed and other say much lower. I also have heard that most of the records of the Inquisition have been destroyed, so we will never know for sure. The fact remains that if it is 100 or 100 million it is still horrible. As Protestants we truly need to be thankful for the men and women who stood strong during this dark time.

 

[preachinjesus]

I'd challenge that there were 25 million within the reach of the Roman Catholic Inquisition.

Even if you get a number of 50 million total Western European population, to say that 50 million, or even 25 million, were executed because of the Inquisition would mean 1/2, or 3/4, of the population died as a result of it. No reasonable historian, that I know of, would believe that number.

 

[BobRyan]

Just providing some balance and objectivity here. This is the text of part of the Mass in Rome on March 12, 2000 in which Pope John Paul II offered a Universal Confession of Sins and Request for Forgiveness

http://www.lafond.us/pagans/Papal_Apology/apology.htm

MEMORY AND RECONCILIATION: THE CHURCH AND THE FAULTS OF THE PAST
December 1999

http://www.lafond.us/pagans/Papal_Apology/MemAndRec.htm

...in other words, the RCC has at least acknowledged and attempted to apologize and ask forgiveness for it's past sins.

You posted two links - but not one quote of the Pope saying "The inquisition was wrong - was a sin. The Church should not have done it and we apologize."

I found that lack of anything to quote "noteworthy" when the apology first came out - to be curious so I contacted the Catholic EWTN online source. At that time Dr. William Carroll was in charge of the church history section of Q&A. So I asked about the supposed apology and how it speaks to the issue of infallibility given that Lateran IV was an infallible ecumenical council calling for the "extermination" of all heretics.

The response I got in no uncertain terms is that the Pope had been very careful NOT to apologize for any actual act of the church in history.

So a lot of window dressing there - but even by RCC standards - no substance to it -- for a number of reasons.

in Christ,

Bob

 

[BobRyan]

After a little research I have found many opposing claims. Many say 25-100 Million killed and other say much lower. I also have heard that most of the records of the Inquisition have been destroyed, so we will never know for sure. The fact remains that if it is 100 or 100 million it is still horrible. As Protestants we truly need to be thankful for the men and women who stood strong during this dark time.

What is still "horrific" even to this day is that Catholics cannot bring themselves to say "the inquisition was a sin - a crime against humanity and God. The Church was wrong to do such a horrific thing and we pray to God they never do it again.".

You know "the obvious" given this enligthened age - no longer in the dark ages - you would think that "yes it was a huge blunder - lets all agree that it should never have been done and is a crime against humanity that should never happen again" - is the "common sense" enlightened view of it.

So why the glaring silence?

in Christ,

Bob

 

[SolaSaint]

I'd challenge that there were 25 million within the reach of the Roman Catholic Inquisition.

Even if you get a number of 50 million total Western European population, to say that 50 million, or even 25 million, were executed because of the Inquisition would mean 1/2, or 3/4, of the population died as a result of it. No reasonable historian, that I know of, would believe that number.

But think about the fact it was a 700 year period. The population at one time may not have been many but we are talking about 17 or 18 generations.

 

[Salty]

But think about the fact it was a 700 year period. The population at one time may not have been many but we are talking about 17 or 18 generations.

Over 700 years, that would be an average of 71428 per year, 1373 per week, 196 per day

 

[BobRyan]

Over 700 years, that would be an average of 71428 per year, 1373 per week, 196 per day

In the St Bartholomew's day massacre - the RCC killed how many in "one day"?

Suddenly—and without warning—the devilish work commenced. Beginning at Paris, the French soldiers and the Roman Catholic clergy fell upon the unarmed people, and blood flowed like a river throughout the entire country. Men, women, and children fell in heaps before the mobs and the bloodthirsty troops. In one week, almost 100,100 Protestants perished. The rivers of France were so filled with corpses that for many months no fish were eaten. In the valley of the Loire, wolves came down from the hills to feel upon the decaying bodies of Frenchmen. The list of massacres was as endless as the list of the dead!

So instead of 196 per day that is.... 14,000 a day?

When news of the Massacre reached the Vatican there was jubilation! Cannons roared—bells rung—and a special commemorative medal was struck—to honor the occasion! The Pope commissioned Italian artist Vasari to paint a mural of the Massacre—which still hangs in the Vatican!

Perhaps as a reminder that Lateran IV's call for the "extermination of heretics" is "still" considered an infallibly correct law of the RCC.

Here is the coin the Pope had made in honor of the crimes against humanity just authored by the RCC of his day.