How can we explain the Spanish Inquisition?

by Michael Shackleton · May 21, 2013

My blood ran cold to see on television some of the devilishly sadistic instruments of torture applied by Christians on Christians during the Spanish Inquisition? How can the Church possibly defend this iniquity? P?Evans

The Church today cannot and does not defend the iniquity of torture, not even that committed in her name in past centuries.

Prosecutions for heresy in the early centuries are a far cry from today�s awareness of human rights. In those times, as in earlier and later times, there was no such thing as freedom of conscience.

If you read the 1948 United Nations� Universal Declaration of Human Rights, you will understand how far we have come in recognising the dignity of the human person.

Western Europe was a unity of religious and secular authorities, Church and State. Any undermining of religious teachings or values was deemed a serious offence against public order. As heretical sects arose in various parts of Europe they were treated as a threat to the Christian faith. It was on this faith, we can say, that public order ultimately rested. In this way, the Inquisition was both a religious and a secular means of preserving public order.

There was no real uniformity in the way punishments were meted out. Penalties varied according to area and local authority. The Church did not apply the death penalty, preferring to coax heretics to a more orthodox view. Only in severe cases was the state brought in to execute people.

Gradually, the number of dissidents increased and Pope Gregory IX decreed in 1234 that the Dominicans and Franciscans be appointed as inquisitors to seek out heretics. After a due process of investigation, those who confessed their heresy were given acts of penance, while the stubborn were executed by the state.

In 1478 the monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, established their own Inquisition to replace the tribunal that was under the authority of the pope. Historians still debate their motives for that. Their theories include the assertion of Catholic orthodoxy, persecution of Jews and Muslims (who were eventually expelled), the exercise of political power and suppression of opposition, profiteering from confiscated property and other reasons.

By all accounts, as you have observed, non-conformists were severely punished. The authorities argued that applying torture to people was simply to make them confess their errors. Once that was done, the torture ceased.

Seen in the context of the time, the absolute value of religious truth overrode the individual�s human rights. Yet, the abuses and scandals brought about by the Inquisition are something neither the Church nor the state can be proud of.