What method did Pope Paul IV use to combat heresy?

Answer 1

A:

Paul IV was a severe and unbending pope, who strongly affirmed the Catholic dogma of extra ecclesiam nulla salus("Outside the Church there is no salvation"), a statement that precluded salvation for heretics and Protestants. He also alienated Protestants in England and rejected the claim of Elizabeth I of England to the Crown.

As a cardinal, he persuaded Pope Paul III to set up the Roman Inquisition, with himself as one of the Inquisitors-General. He is quoted as saying, "Even if my own father were a heretic, I would gather the wood to burn him." As pope, Paul IV further strengthened the Inquisition. Not only heretics, but even cardinals he disliked could be imprisoned. On his death in 1559, rioting crowds destroyed the headquarters of the hated Inquisition and released its prisoners.

Most importantly, Paul introduced the Roman Index of Prohibited Books. The first was printed in 1557, but then withdrawn. A new Index was published in 1559, banning the entire works of some 550 authors in addition to the individual proscribed titles. The blacklisting of some Protestant scholars even when writing on subjects a modern reader would consider outside the realm of dogma meant that, unless they obtained a dispensation, obedient Catholic thinkers were denied access to important scientific works.

Although Jews were not 'heretics', Pope Paul IV forced Roman Jews to live in a ghetto, subject to night curfew, and to wear humiliating identification.

Answer 2

Pope Paul IV used the method of inquisitorial trials and persecution to combat heresy. He established the Roman Inquisition in 1542, which aimed to suppress and eliminate heretical beliefs. This involved interrogating suspected heretics, confiscating prohibited books, and imposing severe punishments on those found guilty of heresy.