None of this rant, Barry, contradicts anything I've said. J-P II knew exactly what he was doing when he put Ratzinger in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Vatican is very good at "saving face" when it needs to (although the predatory-priest scandal has been more than it could successfully cover up). But there was no chance it would ever have "abolished" its war against heresy in the Church, whatever reforms it may have made. If it ever does, it will no longer *be* the Roman Catholic Church. The "darkness" of the means it uses to root out heresy will wax and wane depending on who wields the power and on Vatican and Church politics, as well as the political and social situation outside the Church. But the inquisitorial mindset is inherent and permanent; it is itself doctrinal. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, navashok wrote: > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb wrote: > > > > > > > > Not content to make up things about people she considers > > > > her enemies, now Judy makes up "facts" about the Inquisition. > > > > That's a very Inquisitor-like thing to do. :-) > > > > > > > > Even a short period of Googling would reveal how wrong she > > > > is about several things below, like being 354 years off on > > > > the "start date," as reported even by apologist Catholic > > > > organizatins. I'm pointing it out just so that she'll > > > > go crazy trying to prove herself RIGHT, DAMNIT and make a > > > > fool of herself for our amusement. :-) > > > > > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iF47M3YDlg > > > There aint't no doubt about it, she's lying. She makes up > > > little quibbles continuously to be able to call other's > > > liar and that is a lie as well. > > > > The way you know who the liars are is whether, after > > being called on their lies, instead of attempting to > > prove themselves innocent, they accuse the person who > > has exposed them of lying and never try to document > > that either. > > > > For the record, I don't think Barry was lying about > > Ratzinger; he was just ignorant of the facts (as is > > navashok). There's more than enough reason to > > denounce Ratzinger on the basis of what he's actually > > done (and not done), but "He brought back the > > Inquisition" sounds so *dramatic*. > > > > Stupid, too, for Barry to claim the Inquisition of > > which Ratzinger became the head had previously been > > "abolished"--as if the Vatican would ever have sat > > back and allowed heresy against the doctrines of the > > Church to flourish unimpeded within its ranks. > > Someday Judy should learn that there are certain > things that you cannot learn by sitting on your > fat ass in New Jersey and Googling. Some things > you can only learn by going to actual Dominican > libraries and reading the original documents there. > > Such as the documents sent to individual Dominican > Orders at the time that Pope Paul VI changed the > name of the Holy Office to its current name. Those > documents -- not meant for the general public -- > seriously curtailed the powers and the provenance > of the Inquisition, effectively eliminating many > of the outlandish things it had still been able > to do up until that time. This was greeted with > much approval by people both within and outside > of the Church, and was a prime example of Paul > VI's many ecumenical reforms. It was widely > spoken of within the Church that "the dark era > of the Inquisition is finally over." > > When Ratzinger was named to the head of the > Inquisition by a later Pope, he had already > served as that Pope's "enforcer," and the Church's > arbiter of doctrinal orthodoxy. Once in place as > head of the Inquisition, he set about reversing > all of the revised policies, and quickly became > the most feared man in Catholicism. He ordered > crackdowns on even slightly heretical or non- > mainstream ideas, instituting widespread use > of private detectives and surveillance of priests' > letters, sermons, and communications to ferret > out gays and other liberal priests. He was notably > insane over acceptance of ideas about abortion, > gays, and in Third World countries, "liberal > theology." He gained within the Church the > nickname of "Grand Inquisitor" and among fellow > Germans, "Der Panzerkardinal." > > At the same time, he was a major force in the > coverups of child abuse and other sexual impro- > prieties by priests, and a major force in > bringing back exorcism to the Church. The > Dominican priests who were my sources during > my investigations of the Cathars were *terrified* > of him. They likened him both to Domenico Guzman > himself (founder of the Dominican Order, and > without question a psychopath) and Torquemada. > > So while the Vatican may have "saved face" by > preserving the office of the Holy Office, it > *did* seriously curtail its activities, giving > Catholicism its first real breath of fresh air > for seven hundred years. Ratzinger -- now Pope > Benedict -- brought all of the stale air back. >
