The Roman Inquisition

What was the purpose of the Roman Inquisition and when did it occur?

The purpose of the Roman Inquisition was to create a powerful office within the Catholic Church to root out and punish heresy throughout Europe and the America’s. It began in the 12th century and continuing for hundreds of years. The inquisition was infamous for the severity of its tortures and its persecution of Jews and Muslims.

What happened to those that were persecuted or found guilty?

For those who were persecuted or found guilty the Pope appointed on cardinal to preside over meetings of the Congregation. There were usually 10 cardinals who were members of the Congregation, as well as a prelate and two assistants all chosen from the Dominican Order. The Holy Office also has an international group of consultants including scholars of theology and canon law who advised. This panel and the Congregation would oversee local trials.

How do you think the Roman Inquisition would have impacted on the development of science and society as a whole?

I believe that the Roman Inquisition would have impacted on the development of science as it stripped people of finding new discoveries as it went against the church and its beliefs. This world therefore slow down society as less discoveries are being found about the world and who we came to be. Society could only believe what the church told them, even if it was corrupt, people couldn’t create and form their own beliefs.

How has the church changed its dealings and stance on people that challenge the church with science or different views?

The Vatican’s Congregation of the Inquisition was formally abolished in 1908 - but it may be more correct to say it was renamed. It turned into the Holy Office, which in the 1960’s became the Congregation for the Doctrine of faith. This is the department that Cardinal Josef Ratzinger ran before he became Pope Benedict XVI. It occupies the palazzo built for the Inquisition in the middle of the 16th Century. And it’s still the department that keeps an eye on what theologians write, sometimes calling them on the carpet.

Early theological responses to Evolution 1859 - 1909 = Churches stance on Evolution Theory

Leo XIII acknowledged that there may be some errors in the Bible, but that there is “no real disagreement can exist between the theologian and the scientist provided each keep within his own limits”.

 

He acknowledged that the sacred writers “did not seek to penetrate the secrets of nature, but rather described and dealt with things in more or less figurative language.”

Theistic Revolution Takes Over 1909-1960 = Churches stance on Evolution Theory

1943: Divino Afflante Spiritu (With the Help of the Divine Spirit)

Pope Pius XII taught that Catholic scholars should use modern tools in their exegesis, and make new translations from original languages.

"What is the literal sense of a passage is not always as obvious in the speeches and writings of the ancient authors of the East, as it is in the works of our own time. For what they wished to express is not to be determined by the rules of grammar and philology alone, nor solely by the context; the interpreter must, as it were, go back wholly in spirit to those remote centuries of the East and with the aid of history, archaeology, ethnology, and other sciences, accurately determine what modes of writing, so to speak, the authors of that ancient period would be likely to use, and in fact did use. For the ancient peoples of the East, in order to express their ideas, did not always employ those forms or kinds of speech which we use today; but rather those used by the men of their times and countries.

Pontifical Academy of Sciences 1996 = Churches stance on Evolution Theory

Pope Francis and the Modern Church 2000 - Now = Churches stance on Evolution Theory

Pope Francis stated that belief in both the Big Bang theory and human evolution is consistent with Catholic faith.

 

Rejecting a "Magician" View of God: Pope Francis warned against imagining God as a magician who magically creates everything, emphasizing that God's involvement is present even in scientific explanations like the Big Bang and evolution.

 

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” Pope Francis said.

 

“The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it.

 

“Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.” (Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences)