From: Ric CarterTo: ctRL@LISTSERV.AOL.COM ; SkeptiChat list Subject: [SC] inquisition Date: Sunday, April 26, 1998 12:27 PM from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS subject: AANEWS for April 17, 1998
Ironically, it is a self-professed atheist, Dr. Carlo Ginzburg of UCLA, who more than any other individual may be responsible for pressuring the Vatican to now reveal at least some of the voluminous records covering the period of the Inquisition. According to the Los Angeles Times and other sources, even Cardinal John Ratzinger -- the dour hear of the Inquisition's success agency known as the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith -- admits Ginzburg's influence in this matter. The Cardinal, considered by Vatican watchers to be a staunch church conservative and traditionalists, nevertheless says that the opening reflects the church's "confidence in the face of any critical and serious investigation."
Ginzburg adds, "The Inquisition remains shameful... The opening of the archives is deeply symbolic because it implies the idea of rejecting, turning the page of a long chapter in the church's history and trying to clean its image."
Maybe so. But there are concerns that Mother Church may not be "telling all," a fear that compounds a problem for historians. Many of the files of the Inquisition office were seized by Napoleon's troops in 1810 and lost. And the 4,500 volumes that will be presented for examination at the Vatican do not cover the period after 1903. The Times described this collection as "off limits -- a can of worms that will stay unopened to avoid aggravating such disputes as abortion, clerical celibacy and papal infallibility that divide Catholics today."
The Vatican has also had ample time to review and, if necessary, sanitize the Inquisition records. Ginzburg's original request to the pope was made in a 1979 letter. In 1991, the church began permitting a select group of scholars limited access to the records, and it was only in January of this year -- 19 years later -- that the archives were opened to "qualified researches" of any religious belief.
Other claims, such as the figure that less than 2% of the Inquisition's known subjects were executed -- a figure reported in the Times coverage -- should be considered highly suspect, or considered in context. Low figures and elaborate procedures typified the Medieval inquisition, but not its counterpart in Spain. There, the Inquisition was established by papal fiat in 1478 at the request of the monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. Its primary target at first was the Marranos, Jews who had converted to Christianity, but later Muslims and Protestants fell under Inquisitorial scrutiny. Excesses from these persecutions sometimes drew condemnation from the papacy, but the Vatican refused to take any tangible steps to intervene.
Later, the Inquisition evolved into yet another form. In 1542, the Roman Congregation of the Inquisition (also known as the Holy Office) was established to combat the Protestant Reformation; victims suffered torture, garroting or incineration at the stake until 1727. The leader of this Inquisitorial office, Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa -- ironically identified in some texts as a "reformer" -- rose to the papacy and became Pope Paul IV in 1555, and began the Index Prohibitorum or Index of Forbidden Books. That branch managed to survive until 1966, and decreed which books were to be burned for their heretical content. Catholics found to be in possession of those tomes were often excommunicated unless they possessed a special church exemption, presumably for research and study purposes.
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