Martin Henry
ON THE very day that Deacon Espeut was lashing my column, 'After John Paul II', 'fundamentalists' and me on page 8, a splendid Reuters report, 'Ratzinger selected as new pope', was run on page two. "Under the 78-year-old's meek demeanour lies a steely intellect ready to dissect theological works for their dogmatic purity and debate fiercely against dissenters. His traditionalist judgements have delighted fellow conservatives and outraged liberal Catholics and members of other faiths," the report read.
His document 'Dominus Jesus' was aimed at restating the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church and it described other Christian denominations as deficient or not quite real churches, Reuters said. "Anglican, Lutheran and other Protestant churches which had been in ecumenical dialogue with Rome ... were shocked. They were further upset when Ratzinger dismissed protests from Lutherans as 'absurd'".
But the bit of bio which took one's breath away was the statement that "Ratzinger was appointed head of the Congre-gation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the successor office to the Inquisition, in 1981." In a swift conclave, the Church appointed its aged Chief Inquisitor to be its Chief Bishop.
OLD INQUISITOR
In a strategic public relations move, the Holy Office of the Inquisition was re-christened by Pope Paul VI as the CDF in 1965. Paul VI also discontinued the practice of wearing the triple crown which visibly symbolised the three-fold authority of the papacy. "Ratzinger, complained his many foes in the ... Church" Rapley wrote last Thursday, "was just an old inquisitor."
The fundamental function of the Inquisition, which goes back to the Middle Ages and has run through many manifestations, has been to preserve the doctrinal and dogmatic purity of the Church and to root out heretics. Not to believe, for instance, the two 'infallible' pronouncements of popes, the immaculate conception of Mary (Pius IX, 1854) and her assumption into heaven (Pius XII, 1950), both of which many Protestants would regard as mere Mariolatry, is 'heretical' and in another age, when the Church had the power to do so, would be severely punished.
Benedict XVI has spent the first week of his papacy as Pontifex Maximus vigorously building bridges of assurance to nervous faith communities which had reason to be 'shocked' by his pronouncements from the rebranded Holy Office of the Inquisition.
ZEAL FOR RELIGIOUS TRUTH
The inquisitors were not bad men. They were good men, pious men, gentlemen. Bernard Gui, a Dominican Friar and early 14th century inquisitor, drew up a practical manual or directory for inquisitors in which he said, "the Inquisitor, ought to be diligent and fervent in his zeal for religious truth, the salvation of souls, and the extirpation of heresy. In presence of difficulties and reverses he ought to remain calm, and never give way to anger or indignation. He ought to be fearless, facing danger up till death ... Let that love of truth and mercy, which ought always to dwell in the heart of a judge, shine on his countenance, so that his decisions may never seem to be dictated by envy or by cruelty."
C. S. Lewis wrote: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive ... Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
John Paul the Great went to great lengths to tender apologies for the excesses of the Church. And Benedict XVI has started off in those large footsteps.
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
The truth is, Christian churches and other religions linked to state power have routinely persecuted 'heretics', and Catholics have borne their large share of pain and suffering. Jamaica has a proud record of religious tolerance. Jews and Catholics, for instance, have enjoyed more rights here than they did as minorities in Europe.
The stance of John Paul II, the nine-day-old emerging stance of Benedict XVI, and the general tenor of the post-Vatican II Church have many commendable features for tolerance and freedom of conscience. But they are difficult to reconcile with past pronouncements in favour of supremacy, temporal authority and use of force cardinal principles of the Inquisition pronouncements such as in Pius IX's Syllabus of Errors.
The Syllabus was issued not in the dark Middle Ages but a mere 150 years ago and never repudiated considering that the "Church has never erred, and can never err." And, in essence, the institutional mechanism of the Inquisition has been retained, giving the Church her current chief Bishop.
There is no pleasure in writing thus. Before my mind's eyes are all the friends, colleagues and fellow citizens who may, like Deacon Espeut, misapprehend my intent and be offended. But we must learn from history, painful as it is, to avoid repeating it. From Benedict, the blessed, and his representatives in this blessed land of religious freedom, we desire to hear, "Never again."
Martin Henry is a communication specialist.
