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Chapter 5
Spiritual Intimidation
Pope Innocent III reigned from 1198 to 1216. He excommunicated Markward of Anweiler. In passing the sentence of excommunication, Innocent declared, "We excommunicate, anathematize, curse and damn him" [Note 1]
Innocent III and other popes ruled over kings and other secular rulers by using the "spiritual weapons" of excommunication and interdict. These "weapons" have been effective because Roman Catholics believe that the Pope has the power to deprive them of the grace which they need in order to get to Heaven. Excommunicated people are cut off from the Catholic Church, from church services, from Christian burial, and from the sacraments (communion, confession, baptism, confirmation, and marriage). [Note 2]
Because Catholics believe that the Catholic Church and the sacraments are necessary for salvation, this is, in effect, sentencing them to hell.
In 1014, Pope Leo IX excommunicated the entire Orthodox Church. This means that, according to Catholic theology, every single Orthodox priest, nun, layman, and laywoman is damned to hell unless they repent and submit to Rome. [Note 3] (If a modern Pope decides to remove that excommunication, then it will help Orthodox Christians who are alive today. But for nearly a thousand years, Orthodox Christians lived and died under that curse.)
Interdicts are a somewhat less severe form of excommunication which is applied to large groups of people, including entire nations. Baptism and the "last rites" are allowed, but all other sacraments are forbidden. Church services and Christian burial are also forbidden. If the Pope is in conflict with a secular ruler, then he can put the ruler's subjects under interdict in order to put pressure on the ruler. It works. The ruler's Catholic subjects put pressure on him to submit to the Pope, so that the Pope will remove the interdict. [Note 4]
It works. But at what price? What happens to the innocent people who had nothing to do with the conflict between their ruler and the Pope? They are allowed to receive the "last rites". But that only works for people who know that they are dying. What about people who die suddenly and unexpectedly? And because of the interdict they were not able to have a priest absolve them of their sins? According to Catholic doctrine, they go to hell. So in effect the Pope is willing to send people to hell in order to get political power over secular rulers. Interdicts were used primarily during the Middle Ages. But, as we will see, the interdict was used as recently as 1962.
Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) used interdicts and the threat of interdicts eighty-five times in order to force secular rulers to submit to him. He was so successful that kings declared that the Pope was their feudal lord. For example, King John of England became the vassal of the Pope and paid him an annual tribute. [Note 5] Innocent III wore clothes covered with gold and jewels. He made kings and cardinals kiss his foot. [Note 6] In the papal bull "Deliberatio," Innocent declared,
"By me kings reign and princes decree justice." [Note 7] Pope Boniface VIII reigned from 1294 to 1303. On November 18, 1302, he issued the papal bull "Unam Sanctam" in which he declared that the Pope has both spiritual and worldly power. Boniface declared that there is no salvation apart from submission to the Pope. [This encyclical is on-line. Note 8 gives addresses.]
One of the most famous incidents of excommunication occurred when Pope Gregory VII excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. In order to receive forgiveness from the Pope, and to have the excommunication removed, Emperor Henry had to spend three days repenting in front of the castle where the Pope was staying. It was bitter cold (January, 1077).
Henry spent most of his time kneeling in the ice and snow, weeping and pleading for forgiveness. When Pope Gregory finally allowed Emperor Henry to come into the castle, he publicly humiliated him. [Note 9] Pope Gregory VII declared that the Pope has the right to depose kings and emperors, to make laws, and to require secular rulers to kiss his foot. He said that nobody has the right to judge the Pope. [Note 10]
Excommunication and interdicts are not ancient history. The authority, and the procedure for exercising it, are in existence today. The present Pope (John Paul II) has issued a new edition of Roman Catholic Canon Law (the legal regulations of the Roman Catholic Church). Canons 1331 and 1332 deal with punishments for people who have been excommunicated or placed under interdict. Canons 1364 to 1399 deal with penalties for "delicates" (offenses against Canon Law). These penalties include excommunication and being placed under interdict. [Note 11]
INTIMIDATING VOTERS IN 1962
A modern example of spiritual intimidation is the 1962 election in Malta (a small island in the Mediterranean Sea, near Sicily). Dr. Mark F. Montebello is a Catholic priest from the Island of Malta. He wrote a series of three articles entitled, "Civil Rights in Malta's Post-Colonial Age." The third article describes how the Archbishop of Malta required Malta's Catholic priests to help him prevent Catholics from voting for Mintoff (the Labour Party candidate) in Malta's 1962 election.
According to Dr. Montebello, the Archbishop instructed the priests to use the sacrament of confession to coerce the consciences of Catholic voters. He ordered the priests to threaten people with eternal damnation. He also endorsed literature which contained "medieval intimidations" (the kind of spiritual intimidation that was done during the Middle Ages). [Note 12 gives the address of an on-line article.]
The Catholic Church officially declared that it was a mortal sin to vote for Mintoff. Priests who failed to cooperate were silenced. Some of them were forced to leave Malta and become missionaries in foreign countries. [Note 13 gives the address of an on-line article.]
Maltese Catholics who voted for Mintoff were placed under interdict. It became a mortal sin to vote for Mintoff. Catholics who voted for Mintoff were banned from church life and from the sacraments. They were denied a Christian burial. Instead, they were buried in a section of the cemetery which was called "the rubbish dump," implying that the soul of the dead person was damned. A citizen of Malta recounts,
"The Catholic Church used the pulpit, the confessional, the media and even public meetings in its vigorous campaign. I asked my father about his experience. When he went to confession, the priest asked him how he intended to vote in the general election and refused to give him absolution." [Note 14 gives the address of an on-line article.] The Catholic Church categorizes sins as either mortal sins (the most serious kind) or venial sins (which are considered to be less serious). [Note 15]
According to Catholic doctrine, if a person dies in a state of mortal sin, then he or she is damned to hell. [Note 16]
In order for a mortal sin to be forgiven, a Catholic must go to confession and receive absolution from a priest. [Note 17]
However, if a Catholic is under interdict, then he or she is not allowed to receive the sacraments, and therefore cannot receive absolution for their sins. So what happened to Maltese Catholics who voted for Mintoff?
(1) According to the Catholic Church, they committed a mortal sin.
(2) They were placed under interdict, and therefore they could not have that mortal sin be absolved by a Catholic priest.
(3) Therefore, they die in a state of mortal sin. According to Catholic doctrine, that means that they go to hell. There is one exception. A person under interdict is allowed to receive the "last rites." However, this requires that:
(1) the person is close to death and knows that they are dying;
(2) in spite of being near death, they are in good enough shape mentally and physically to be able to look for a priest (or to ask friends or family members to look for a priest);
(3) they are able to find a priest who is willing to help them; and
(4) the priest gets there in time to give them the "last rites" before they die. According to Catholic doctrine, this means the difference between Heaven and hell.
Chapter 6
Hunting "Heretics"
Augustine lived from 354 to 430 A.D. He had a vision of an ideal society, with the Roman Catholic Church at its centre, governing all aspects of human life. His ideal society required conformity in belief and practice. Augustine taught that it was right and necessary for the Catholic Church to make this happen, even if it meant coercing people to comply. This laid the theological foundation for persecuting "heretics" and for the Inquisition. [Note 1]
For over a thousand years, the Roman Catholic Church hunted down "heretics" and killed them. Some of these "heretics" were people with strange beliefs. But, as we shall see later, many of them were Bible-believing Christians. Jesus predicted that true Christians would be persecuted and killed. He told His disciples, "Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." (John 16:2)
For the Roman Catholic Church, "heresy" means to "obstinately" doubt or deny any official Catholic doctrine. [Note 2] Doctrines which have often been disputed include the authority of the Pope, purgatory, indulgences, the veneration of Mary and the saints, and transubstantiation (the doctrine that the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ are fully present in every fragment of consecrated bread).
Some Catholic doctrines seem to conflict with the plain meaning of Scripture. As a result, people who read the Bible for themselves are likely to doubt or dispute those doctrines. One way of solving that problem is to prevent laymen from reading the Bible. The Catholic Church took that approach for hundreds of years.
Starting about 1080, there were many incidents where scholars wanted to translate the Bible into the language of the common people, but it was forbidden by the Pope, Church councils, or individual bishops. [Note 3] William Tyndale was burned as a "heretic" because he translated the Bible into English. [Note 4]
People were burned as "heretics" for owning or reading his translation. [Note 5]
For centuries, Christians were forbidden to possess the Scriptures in any language, including Latin. Reading the Bible was considered to be proof that someone was a heretic. Men and women were burned at the stake for reading the Bible in Latin. [Note 6]
With the Protestant Reformation, the Bible was translated into English, German, and other languages. With the invention of the printing press, Bibles became so plentiful that they could no longer be suppressed. That is why people like us, who are not Latin scholars, are able to read the Bible today.
CHRISTIAN "HERETICS"
Who were some of the Christian "heretics" who were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church? I would like you to meet the Waldensians. (They are also known as the Waldenses and the Vaudois.) When "heretics" were hunted, their writings were confiscated and burned, so it is often difficult to know what they really taught. [Note 7] However, we do know what the Waldensians taught. Their writings survived.
In some ways the Waldensians were similar to the Franciscans. Both groups taught the value of poverty and simplicity. They both had poor, humble, itinerant preachers, who were barefoot and wore humble peasant clothing. [Note 8] As we shall see, the Pope examined the Waldensians and found no heresy in them. (But later another Pope reversed that decision.)
Who were these courageous men and women who endured centuries of persecution for their faith?
THE WALDENSIANS
One of the most famous Waldensians was Peter Waldo (1140-1218), a wealthy merchant of Lyons, France. He asked a priest how to live like Jesus Christ. The priest quoted the words of Jesus to the rich young ruler, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." (Matthew 19:21) Waldo made financial provision for his family, gave the rest of his money to the poor, memorized Scripture, and began preaching. Some scholars believe that Peter Waldo was the founder of the Waldensians. However, there is strong evidence that the Waldensians began long before Peter was born, and that Peter was given the surname Waldo because of his association with them. [Note 9]
The Waldensians travelled in pairs, preaching the Gospel. They were humble people who believed in "apostolic poverty". They were barefoot, owning nothing, and they shared all things in common. Their teaching was orthodox, but they were considered to be a threat because they set standards which made many members of the Catholic clergy look bad by comparison. [Note 10]
The humility and voluntary poverty of the Waldensians were a striking contrast to the pride and luxury of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. A prime example of this was Pope Innocent III. He reigned from 1198 to 1216, which was during Waldo's lifetime. Innocent wore clothes covered with gold and jewels. He made kings and cardinals kiss his foot. [Note 11] He said that the Pope is "less than God but more than man". [Note 12]
Another example is Pope Boniface VIII, who reigned from 1294 to 1303. He said, "I am Caesar. I am emperor." He wore a crown which was covered with costly jewels, including 48 rubies, 45 emeralds, 72 sapphires, and 66 large pearls. [Note 13] Boniface declared,
"[I]t is altogether necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman pontiff [Pope]." [This encyclical is available on-line. Note 14 gives addresses.]
Waldo's beliefs were founded on the Bible, especially the Gospels. He believed that there was no need to interpret the Bible because it spoke clearly for itself. All that was needed was to make the whole of Scripture available to the people. Waldo was French, so he commissioned two priests to translate the Bible into French, starting with the Gospels. As soon as the first Gospel (Matthew) had been translated, Waldo applied it to his life "to the letter" and began preaching it to the people. [Note 15]
In 1179, Pope Alexander III found no evidence of heresy among the Waldensians. However, because they were laymen, he forbid them to preach unless they were requested to do so by a bishop. The Archbishop of Lyons ordered Waldo to stop preaching. Waldo quoted Acts 5:29, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Waldo kept on preaching, and the Archbishop excommunicated him. Then, in 1184, Pope Lucius III excommunicated Waldo and his followers. [Note 16]
In 1211, more than eighty Waldensians were burned at the stake for "heresy". This was the followed by centuries of persecution. [Note 17]
Because they were persecuted, the Waldensians went underground and spread to other countries, especially Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. The magnitude of their persecution is shown by the fact that in one year, in Italy alone, nine thousand Waldensians were killed and another twelve thousand were put into prison, where most of them died. In spite of this, somehow the itinerant Waldensian preachers were able to maintain links throughout Europe. [Note 18]
The Waldensians survived until the sixteenth century. Then they joined the Protestant Reformation. In 1848, the Italian government granted them emancipation. Finally, they were free from persecution (except for a brief period when Mussolini persecuted them during World War II). There are still Waldensian churches today. [Note 19]
THE INQUISITION
One of the things which was used to try to suppress the Waldensians and other "heretics" was the Inquisition. It began in 1180, four years before Waldo and the Waldensians were excommunicated by the Pope. From 1180 to 1230, the Catholic Church enacted legislation (Canon Law) against heresy. It created a permanent tribunal, staffed by Dominican friars, which became known as the Inquisition.
The Inquisition used procedures which were banned in regular secular courts. It used anonymous informers. The accused person was not allowed to know who accused them and they were not allowed to have anybody defend them. People were allowed to accuse their personal enemies. The inquisitors were allowed to use torture in order to get accused people to "confess". Once a person was accused, some kind of punishment was inevitable. If secular officials were reluctant to punish the victims, they were likely to become victims themselves. [Note 20]
If enough witnesses testified that the accused person was guilty, then he or she was considered to be guilty. At that point the accused person had to choose between confessing and renouncing their "errors" or else being burned. If they confessed, then they would stay in prison for the rest of their life, but they would be spared being burned at the stake. [Note 21]
When secular rulers resisted the harsh methods of the Inquisition, popes pressured them by excommunicating the rulers and placing their subjects under interdict. (Interdict means that no religious services or sacraments were allowed, including communion, confession, marriages, and Christian burial.) (See the chapter, "Spiritual Intimidation".) For example, when King Edward II protested that torture was opposed to English law, Pope Clement V told the king that the law of the Roman Catholic Church was higher than the law of England. The Pope said, "We hear that you forbid torture as contrary to the laws of your land.... I command you at once to submit those men to torture." [Note 22]
The Pope gave orders to the King of England, and the King obeyed. The nation of England took a giant step backwards and started torturing people again.
The Inquisition was financed by confiscating the property of people who were condemned. It had to get people convicted in order to get the money that it needed for its operations. This was a strong motive for using torture to make people "confess". In Spain, the Inquisitors usually got all of the money. In other countries, the money was divided between the Inquisitors and the Vatican. [Note 23]
Even the grave was no protection from having property be confiscated. Corpses were dug up, and dead men and women were convicted of heresy. This allowed the Inquisitors to take the property of the heirs of the dead "heretics". [Note 24]
Sometimes people were convicted of heresy for reasons that are difficult to understand. A young nobleman failed to take his hat off when a religious procession was going through the streets. It was raining at the time. He paid a heavy price for trying to keep his head dry. He was convicted of blasphemy. He was sentenced to "torture ordinary and extraordinary". His hands were cut off. His tongue was ripped out with pincers. And he was burned alive. [Note 25]
In 1545, the Inquisition published an Index of prohibited books. Catholics were threatened with damnation if they read one of these books. The Index included all of the books of the Protestant Reformers, as well as Protestant Bibles. In Spain, owning one of these banned books was punishable by death. The list of forbidden books was kept current until Pope Paul VI abolished the Index in 1959. [Note 26]
In the eighteenth century, the Inquisition ran out of money and became largely inactive. Its last execution was in the early nineteenth century (1826). A Spanish schoolmaster was hanged because he substituted the phrase "Praise be to God" in place of "Ave Maria" ("Hail Mary") during school prayers. [Note 27]
The Office of the Inquisition still exists. It is located in the Vatican. In 1965 its name was changed to "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith". It is headed by Cardinal Ratzinger. [Note 28]
CONCLUSION
There was a wide variety of Christian "heretics". On the one hand, there were the Waldensians, who were simple, humble people who were just trying to live according to Biblical principles. But when told not to preach, they continued preaching.
On the other hand, there were people like Wycliffe, who said inflammatory things. Wycliffe started out as a Catholic Reformer and eventually wound up becoming a Protestant. He taught that the government of England should remove morally corrupt churchmen and confiscate their property. He said that the Pope is "Antichrist itself, the man of sin who exalts himself above God." Now those are "fighting words". Of course the Pope was angry. Wycliffe's followers (the Lollards) were severely persecuted. [Note 29]
But did Jesus and his Disciples kill people for saying offensive things? They could have. Elijah called down fire on people.
"And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." (Luke 9:54-55)
There is an old story about a man who asked a woman, "Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?" She said, "Well, for a million dollars, I guess maybe I would." Then he said, "Would you sleep with me for five dollars?" She replied, "What kind of woman do you think I am?" And he answered, "We've already established that. Now we're haggling price." A million dollars is a strong enticement. For the Pope to be publicly accused of being the Antichrist is a strong provocation. But no matter how great the enticement or the provocation, some things are just plain wrong. Killing "heretics" because of their religious convictions is never justifiable. As one man said, "Either the victim resists, and you murder his body, or he yields and speaks against his conscience, and you murder his soul." [Note 30]