The Catholic Church has for centuries tortured, burned, imprisoned and slaughtered innocent people
merely because they would not conform to its teachings.
"The utterance of medieval pontiffs created this oppressive climate. It began, of course, with
Gregory VII's 'The pope cannot make a mistake'. Paschal II (1073-85), quoting a forged letter of St. Ambrose, said: 'Whoever does not agree with the Apostolic See is without a doubt a heretic...' [Innocent III in 1198 issued a decree which proclaimed that anyone who was
caught reading the Bible would be put to death.] Innocent IV (1234-54) as a kind of climax to
this apotheosis, described himself as 'praesentia corporalis Christi', 'the bodily presence of
Christ', presumably by a kind of transubstantiation at his election. Anyone who showed disrespect to him or his decree was, naturally, a heretic...[His ‘Bull of May 15, 1252, gave official Vatican approval for use of torture in extracting confessions from unrepentant
heretics' " (Graven Bread, Timothy F. Kauffman, 53).] Boniface VIII (1294-1303), not to be outdone, defined it as Catholic doctrine that 'every human being must do as the pope tells him' " (Vicars of Christ:The Dark Side Of The Papacy, Peter DeRosa, 166-67).
Thus each pope only served to intensify the persecution. Paul explains it best, when he says:
"For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the
enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly and whose
glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Phil.3:18-19) "For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according
to their works." (2 Cor.11:13-15)
Paul goes on to say:
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive;...This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart." (Eph.4:14, 17-18)
The real terror began in 1232 when Gregory IX established the Inquisition. Anyone who disagreed
with papal authority was to be burned. In 1233 Dominican Friars were appointed Inquisitors by Gregory
IX. These monks were not under the authority of civil law. They were only under subjection to the pope.
"Their guiding principle was: 'Better for a hundred innocent people to die than for one heretic to go
free' " (Vicars of Christ, Peter De Rosa, 163).
Papal authority demanded that they have no mercy on their victims, lest they become suspect
themselves. This group of monks have been the grand Inquisitors in all countries in which the tribunals
have been established.
"There is no known case of a secular prince or magistrate refusing to punish anyone
convicted of heresy by friars of the Inquisition. Popes made no bones about it: any prince who
did not burn heretics as charged by the Inquisition would be excommunicated himself and go
before the same tribunals for heresy" (Vicars of Christ, De Rosa, 177).
Inquisitors would travel from town to town, meeting with local authorities, ordering them to gather the
townsfolk into the local church and encourage parents to betray their children, and children to betray their
parents. They would demand conversion within 30 days. Upon completion of said time, and after
examination, those found guilty were imprisoned and tortured or burned.
There is no record of any acquittal. The Inquisitors never lost a case. there was no legal representation
for any of the accused, none would dare.
The Spanish Inquisition was the most powerful, even the kings of Spain feared the lords of the
Inquisition. They were required to participate in the execution of martyrs, and to enforce the sentences of
the tribunals.
The Grand Inquisitor for Spain was a well-known man by the name of Thomas Torquemada. He was
appointed in 1483 by Isabella and Ferdinand and confirmed by Alexander VI. He ruled tyrannically for 15
years and the victims he burned totalled 10,220.
One of the earliest persecutions was against the Waldenses and Albigenses, their beliefs were as
follows:
"They denied that the Roman Catholic Church was the church of Christ; [declared that] St.
Peter had never come to Rome, had never founded the papacy; [and that] the popes were
successors to the emperors, not to the apostles. [They taught that] Christ had no place to lay
his head, but the pope lived in a palace; Christ was propertyless and penniless, but Christian
prelates were rich; surely these lordly archbishops and bishops, these worldly priests, these
fat monks, were the Pharisees of old returned to life! The Roman Church, they were sure,
was the Whore of Babylon, the clergy were a synagogue of Satan, the pope was Antichrist.
They denounced the preachers of crusades as murderers...laughed at indulgences and
relics...They called the churches 'dens of thieves' and Catholic priests seemed to them
'traitors, liars, and hypocrites' " (The Story of Civilization, Durant, IV: 772).
"The apostle Paul said, 'If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.' (Rom.8:9)
And the Lord Jesus was kind, loving and peaceful even to sinners. He never persecuted
anyone, not even those who were in error. But the arrogant Roman Church, with the blood of
the Inquisition on its hands, unrepentant and defiant, presumes to set itself up as the final
authority in the realm of faith and morals, and has cruelly slaughtered tens of thousands and
has persecuted millions of others merely because they did not submit to its domination"
(Roman Catholicism, Boettner, 410).
Four hundred years before the Inquisition, Nicholas I: "...encouraged the King of Bulgaria, a new
convert to what he thought was 'Christianity,' to force Rome's religion upon his subjects" (A Woman Rides
the Beast, Hunt, 124).
"I glorify you for having maintained your authority by putting to death those wandering
sheep who refused to enter the fold; and...a king need not fear to command massacres, when
these will retain his subjects in obedience, or cause them to submit to the faith of Christ and
God will reward him in this world, and in eternal life, for these murders" (History of the
Popes, Cormenin, 243).
What gives the Roman Catholic Church the right to judge or condemn anyone? Christ says: "Judge
not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned..." but for centuries even
before the Inquisition, they took it upon themselves to judge and condemn, when their mission should
have been the dissemination of the TRUE gospel!
In 1527 Luther wrote:
"It is not right and I am deeply troubled that the poor people are so pitifully put to death,
burned and cruelly slain. Let everyone believe what he likes. If he is wrong, he will have
punishment enough in hellfire. Unless there is sedition one should oppose them with
scriptures...with fire you will accomplish nothing" (Travail of Religious Liberty, Roland H.
Bainton, 61).
Even though "...The [civil] law forbade torture, knowing that it would only lead to hypocrisy and
perjury" (Vicars of Christ, De Rosa, 177) the Catholic church had no such scruples and employed any and
all means to silence what they considered "heresy". We will cite only a few examples of the tortures
inflicted upon its victims, all in the name of Jesus Christ!
[The Hoist] “... consisted in tying the hands behind the back. One end of the rope was then
secured around the hands and the other end of the rope passed through a pulley on the
ceiling. The victim was raised then dropped by sudden jerks. Each time the elevation was
increased and weights...placed on the feet...." (Travail of Religious Liberty, Bainton, 45)
This caused excruciating pain. It pulled all the joints out of socket and the ropes would cut through
the wrist to the bone.
[The Water Cure was horrific] "...the suspect was bound to a ladder, so placed that the feet
were above the head. The mouth was held open by an iron clasp and the nostrils plugged. A
rag was placed down the throat. The mouth was then filled with water. Swallowing took the
rag down the gullet and cut off breathing. When the victim was on the point of suffocation,
the rag was pulled up and the soft voice of the Inquisitor appealed for a confession"
[According to other sources, the rag was made of a rough material so that when they pulled it
out of the throat, it would tear the tissue.] (The Travail of Religious Liberty, Bainton, 46).
[The Iron Virgin] “...This infernal instrument...surpassed the others in fiendish ingenuity. Its
exterior was a beautiful woman, a large doll richly dressed, with arms extended ready to
embrace its victims...the inside however was slightly different with knives extending about 12
inches...some of these knives are so placed as to enter the eyes of those who the image enfolds
in its embrace; others are set so as to penetrate the ears and brain; others to pierce the
breast, and others again to gore the abdomen" [This torture device was sprayed with "holy
water" and inscribed with the Latin words meaning, "Glory be only to God."] (The Convent
Horror, Twenty-one Years in a Convent Dungeon Eight Feet Long, Six Feet Wide, From Official
Records, Barbara Ubryk, 109, 112).
Ralph Woodrow, in his book Babylon Mystery Religion, on page 99, goes on to explain the horror
faced by those who would not embrace Catholicism:
"Some who rejected the Roman Church had molten lead poured into their ears and mouth.
Eyes were gouged out...Some were forced to jump from cliffs onto large spikes fixed
below...Others were choked to death with mangled pieces of their own bodies...."
It is an evil system that professes "...that they know God; but in works they deny him, being
abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” [void of judgment] (Titus 1:16)
They have viciously murdered thousands upon thousands of innocent people and God will avenge the
blood of his servants at her hand. There is no doubt that the Catholic Church is "...drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus...." (Rev.17:6)
If you are joined with her, Scripture is very clear on what you must do:
"...Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities." (Rev.18:4-5)
We have a personal account from Miles Phillips, imprisoned for the "sin" of refusing the sacraments.
"...He describes how his very life depended on whether or not he would acknowledge the
Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation: or the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
'During which time of our imprisonment...we were often called before the Inquisitor alone;
and there severely examined of our faith...Then did they proceed to demand of us, upon our
oaths, 'What we did believe of the sacraments and...Whether there did remain any bread or
wine, after the words of consecration, Yea or No...and whether we did not believe that the
host of bread which the priest did hold up over his head, and the wine that was in the chalice,
was the very true and perfect body and blood of our Savior Christ, Yea or No?' To which, if
we answered not 'Yea!' then there was no way but death" (Graven Bread, Timothy Kauffman,
56-57).
Jesus comforted us concerning those who would "...think that he doeth God service" by killing us
(Jn.16:2), with this admonition: "...fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul;
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt.10:28)
"It had been decreed by Napoleon [in 1809] that Inquisitions and Monasteries should be
suppressed, but the decree was not executed. Months had passed away and the prisons of the
inquisition had not been opened" (The Convent Horror, Barbara Ubryk, 103).
It wasn't until four years later that the Inquisition was finally suppressed. Three years after that Pius
VII forbade the use of torture, but persecution continues today.
"In recent years, Christians have been martyred in the Soviet Union, Vietnam, India,
Ethiopia, Uganda, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, El Salvador, and Iran" (The Noble Army of
"Heretics", Bill Jackson, 148).
Though executions and burnings were no longer lawful
"...Pius IX, by an edict dated 1856, still permitted 'excommunication, confiscation,
banishment, imprisonment for life, as well as secret execution in heinous cases'...What history
shows is that, for more than six centuries without a break, the papacy was the sworn enemy of
elementary justice. Of eighty popes in a line...not one of them disapproved of the theology and
apparatus of Inquisition. On the contrary, one after another added his own cruel touches to
the workings of this deadly machine" (Vicars of Christ, Peter De Rosa, 175).
"While the Eucharist was the central focus of the tribunals of the Inquisition, it was also
central to the administration of the death sentences of the unrepentant. When a convicted
heretic was to be burned, the members of the local town or city were required to participate
in the burning as an auto dafe - an act of faith...By confiscating finances and properties, the
tribunals also assured that whoever was guilty of failing to adore the Eucharist was also
unable to participate in any financial exchange...and of course was rendered unable to
purchase basic necessities to sustain a family. For all purposes, an accused heretic was denied
the ability to buy or sell goods, services and properties if he refused to acknowledge and
worship the True Physical Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist...Was the Eucharist, through
the Inquisitions, given the power to demand that anyone who refused to worship it be put to
death? Did the Eucharist strike fear in the hearts of all, great and small alike?...Did those
who refused to worship the Eucharist lose the right to engage in business and financial
transactions through the seizure of their property? Remarkably, the answer to all of these
questions is YES" (Emphasis mine) (Graven Bread, Kauffman, 61,137).
This sounds like the Antichrist, the head of the Beast system, in the last days, exercising world-wide
economic control as: "...he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive
a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that
had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (Rev.13:16-17).
"The central theme of the Inquisitions was the Eucharist, and the punishments consistently
were fiscal and economic restrictions, and death by various means for those who refused to
bow to the bread of the altar...." (Graven Bread, Kauffman, 62)
So shall it be just before Jesus comes back as testified by Rev.20:4-5
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them: and I saw
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and
which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon
their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection."
The Inquisition was without a doubt Rome's masterpiece for control over the people and nations, and it
has never been abolished. Today the Inquisition is known as "The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith"
or "Doctrinal Congregation". Her current Grand Inquisitor is Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Although she
cannot torture her victims now, her attitude and laws are unchanged. If the papacy regains her once-held
power, she will not hesitate to use the machinery still in place. This quote says it best:
"The Roman Church has long boasted that she never changes - Semper Idem - 'Always the
same,' is her motto. We accept that motto at face value. Not that she has not changed or
added to the Christian faith which she inherited from the Apostolic Church, for she certainly
has done that; but that the Roman Church has now been frozen into a definite pattern from
which she cannot change and which is basically the same today as it was in the days of the
Inquisition. What sometimes looks like change is merely a policy of caution which she has
been forced to adopt because of public opinion. She changes her methods, but not her spirit.
Her Canon Law has not undergone any essential change, nor has her ancient policy of
suppressing or persecuting those who differ with her. No pope has ever declared himself in
favor of freedom of religion or issued a decree to that effect, nor has the Roman Church ever
established a free society anywhere. In view of what the Roman Church teaches her children
in the parochial schools concerning her mission as the only true church, her right to suppress
all other religions by force if necessary, together with her political and economic policies in
those lands where she presently is in control, why should anyone doubt that a new Inquisition
merely awaits the supremacy of Roman power when it will again burn and pillage and
slaughter the 'heretics' all in the name of religion as it did in the earlier ages. Her position is
that which opposes her, that which she terms 'error,' has no rights, and that its mere
existence is a crime against the Catholic state. If and when the time comes to 'Make America
Catholic, ' there is no reason to believe that she would hesitate to use her traditional methods.
There is far too much history behind the Roman Catholic Church for us to believe otherwise"
(Roman Catholicism, Boettner, 447).
If you think there is no way this could happen again, then read these quotes carefully:
"The Roman Catholic Church...must demand the right of freedom for herself alone" (Civilta
Catholica, April, 1948).
"We will declare a holy war; don't doubt it...The Catholic Church has a ponderous structure,
but when we move, we'll smash anyone beneath us" (Charisma, May 1994, Bishop Sinesio
Bohn)."Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of
his saints." (Psa.116:15)
by Nicole Peoples