Expert: Rick Jackson - 5/31/2007

Question
QUESTION: Dear Mr. Jackson :

  I’m a 9 grade student and I’m currently doing an inquiry project on Catholic Church and history. As it is an inquiry I need the question “How does the modern Catholic Church approach follower on maters of faith and favours in comparison to Orthodox Roman Catholics?” answered. Because of this I would like to ask you some question on the Catholic Church.

  The first question I would like to ask is on the subject of some of the supposed stains on the Catholic Church. The first question is that on the subject of the Orthodox Roman Church and how you view them. Do you see the crusades as a true stain on the Catholic Church? Also do you think that the crusades are justified or do you think that they to are unjustified and cruel. Most importantly though how do you see the resemblances in between the older church and ways of running and the modern practises? Do you think that the basic ideas have changes or do you think that the church is has the same approach on the matter of faith? Do you think the changes are for better or worse?

  You can contact me at the email ericdvachon@hotmail.com. If possible I would like if you could respond before this coming Sunday. I would like to thank you in advance for your reply and for your time.

  Sincerely,
     
     Eric Vachon


ANSWER: Hi Eric.  

You might guess that entire volumes have been written to answer/address questions such as yours, so the best I can do is give a summary answer and provide some links for further reading.

I and many Catholic Christians agree that the Crusades are a "stain" on our history, however not as big a stain as many make it out to be.  If Christian cities had not been taken and Christian people killed by the invaders, then there never would have been Crusades.

Certainly, though, there were cruel and unjustifiable events in the Crusades, but one must remember that most of them were committed by renegade individuals, not "the Church".

As for practices regarding matters of faith...comparing the past to now, I am absolutely thrilled to see how the Church is 1. reaching out to folks of other faiths including non-Catholic Christians and 2. helping lead all Christians to a closer walk with God.  In the past, so much effort was placed on rules and procedure...

Generally, though, we can say that doctrine has not changed, but practice has changed drastically (since Vatican II).

Regarding questionable things from history (the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc.) here is an article that you might find helpful:
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2006/0601fea3.asp

And here is more on the Crusades:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm

I hope this has helped some,

Rick.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Mr. Jackson :

  I would like to thank you for the reply and your time to my original letter. Because of my recent studies I would have to agree with you. But after reading the articles that you recommended I decided to narrow my topic of research and to use more events from the Orthodox Roman Church.
  After my research I decided to include the Spanish inquisition. Because of this I would like to ask if you a couple of new questions on the medieval and Spanish inquisition. Firstly I would like to say that I found another article called " The truth about the Spanish inquisition " that basically uses your view on the crusades for describing the inquisition. Because of thins I would like to ask you if you belief that the Spanish was also misunderstood? Do you think that the church's "Black Marks" are mostly just a misunderstood topic that is blown out of proportion? From the article that you showed and others it seems that the inquisition by the church wasn't the only inquisition of the time and it was probably the least destructive, do you agree with this view? Also do you think that the Spanish inquisition really can be blamed on the church after the pope made attempts to stop it?
  Once again I would like to thank you for your time and for your reply. To contact my me e-mail is ericdvachon@hotmail.com. I would also like to thank you for clearing up the topic for me and helping me with my inquiry.

Answer
Horrible horrible things happened during the "inquisitions", however you are right that it is misunderstood...and mis "evaluated".

Start here with this good overview/history:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm

Then for answers to detractors:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Inquisition.asp

According to Pope John Paul II, “The Inquisition belongs to a tormented phase in the history of the Church, which . . . Christians [should] examine in a spirit of sincerity and open-mindedness.”1 To assess the Inquisition properly, we must distinguish between the principle which undergirded it, and the actions of those responsible for implementing the principle. The principle — that the Church must guard the faith against deviations — is an obligation of divine law (cf. Mt. 18:18; 2 Tim. 1:14). The actions taken to implement the process sometimes were questionable and even deplorable. Yet, because of centuries of misinformation, we must take care to distinguish fact from fiction.  The above is from here:
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0029.html

Rick.