The Church's failures and accountability · Question 4
“Wasn't the Inquisition a system that tortured and killed people for not believing?”
The question: “How do you explain the Church putting people's thoughts on trial in the name of defending the truth?”
First, the admission: The inquisitions of different eras and regions differed in structure and in penalties, but there were cases where Church tribunals joined with secular power and led to interrogation, coercion, unjust punishment, and execution. Breaking a conscience by torture and force is against human dignity and against the Gospel. Even when an exaggerated figure is corrected, that cannot make the suffering of one real victim any smaller.
The Church's answer: Faith by its very nature has to be a free response. The Church has a duty to discern what is taught within the community, but it may not force faith on anyone or punish conscience with state power. We remember this history today not to protect our pride but so that even in disputes over doctrine we keep due process, religious freedom, and the life and dignity of the person.
If they press further: “And the witch hunts — wasn't that all the Church too?” — They unfolded differently in Catholic regions, in Protestant regions, and in secular courts, so “one institution did all of it” is inaccurate. But the wrong of Christians taking part in accusations and executions amid superstition, fear, and misogyny has to be studied accurately and admitted.
In one sentence: “The history of the inquisitions is not simple, but coercing conscience and inflicting torture and unjust punishment in order to defend the faith was wrong.”
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