Loss of Human Life and 2,000 years of Err

Galileo Galilei,the famous Italian astronomer and physicist was one of the most noted victims of the inquisition. A letter in which he attempted to demonstrate the Copernican theory, that the Earth is not the center of the universe, was forwarded by some of his enemies (xtians) to the inquisitors in Rome. He was tried in 1633 and found guilty of heresy. He was forced to recant (publicly withdraw his statement) and was sentenced to life imprisonment under house arrest.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II declared that the Roman Catholic Church "may have been mistaken in condemning him," and he established a commission to study the case.13

In 1993, the Catholic Church "officially" pardoned Galileo. In other words, they forgave him for teaching that the planets revolve around the Sun, not the Earth. (See the above link).

Loss of human life:

* Salzburg, Austria, 1677-1681 over 100 murdered

* Basque region of the Pyrenees; 1608, Lawyer Pierre de Lancre was sent to the region to "root out and destroy those who worshipped Pagan Gods." Over 600 tortured and murdered.

* Witch judge Henri Boguet c. 1550-1619 sent some 600 victims to their deaths in Burgundy, many of them young children who were systematically tortured and then burned alive.

* A pregnant woman was burned alive and from the trauma, she gave birth before she died. The baby was tossed back into the flames.

* Swedish town of Mora, 1669, more than 300 murdered. Among them, 15 children. 36 children between the ages of 9 and 15 were made to run the gauntlet and were beaten with rods upon their hands once a week for an entire year. Twenty of the youngest children, all under the age of 9 were whipped on their hands at the church door for 3 sundays in succession. Many more were severaly beaten for witchcraft offenses.

* In Scotland, under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, a total of 120 in a single month were murdered in 1661. Estimates of the total dead have been as high as 17,000 between 1563 and 1603.

* In Würzburg, Germany, the Chancellor wrote a graphic account in the year of 1629:
"...there are three hundred children of three or four years, who are said to have had intercourse with the Devil. I have seen children of seven put to death, and brave little scholars of ten, twelve, fourteen and fifteen years of age..."
Between the years of 1623 and 1633, some 900 "witches" were put to death throughout Würzburg. This was largely maintained by the Jesuits.

* The Chronicler of Treves reported in 1586 that the entire female population of two villages was wiped out by inquisitors. Only two women were left alive.

* Noted cases included the Knights Templar, Joan of Arc who was chained by the neck, hands and feet and locked in a cramped iron cage, Galileo, who stated that the Earth revolved around the Sun and was not the center of the universe as the church taught(See above).

The above accounts were taken from Cassel Dictionary of Witchcraft by David Pickering.


On Sunday, March 12th, 2002, the Pope John Paul II apologized for the "errors of his church for the last 2000 years."

http://www.exposingchristianity.com/Inquisition.html