When the Catholic Church punished heretics who were against the church in Spain?

Answer 1

You are asking about the Spanish Inquisition, but the Church did not punish heretics, the Church's sole duty from Her Blessed Lord is to try and save everyone. So the Church sought to return people to the faith. However, at that time, the government, particularly the King, was Catholic, and they saw heresy as a form of treason. The Spanish Inquisition was set up by the Spanish Crown and sought to root out traitors to the Crown. In the case of a recalcitrant traitor, the Church had no authority whatsoever, and the case was turned over to the Civil government. In many cases, those who went before the Inquisition actively sought to remain under the Church's control as they were much more humane than the Civil government at that time.

Okay, I'm going to explain this, please spread this as far as wide as you can. EVERYTHING that you know about the Spanish Inquisition is false, EVERYTHING that you have been told about the Spanish Inquisition or read about it has been made up. A lot of it was made up hundreds of years ago: Spain and England were at war (think of the sixteenth century, seventeenth century) and consequently the English made up all kinds of horror stories about the Spanish. This was so long ago, and they have been told so many times by so many people that it has made it into history books with quotations, references, etc. But they are all historical facts based on lies. The fact that the lies are 400+ years old makes it difficult to sort out these days. But if you have read these lies in your history books, if you see movies, if you hear references to the Spanish Inquisition, you think "horrible, torture, beyond comprehension". Okay, now, just for laughs, they have uncovered the actual RECORDS of the Spanish Inquisition, it turns out that nothing happened without some poor monk or friar sitting right there and recording every bit of torture, and every reaction, including confessions.

You may view the actual discovery, and the records for yourself at the links below. In the meantime, Diane Moczar, a professor in Virginia, who has done a lot of study in these matters, has written several books:

Extracted from Seven Lies About Catholic History Infamous Myths About the Church's Past and How to Answer Them by Diane Moczar, c 2010 by TAN Books, Charlotte, North Carolina

Of all the Inquisitions (and there were a few from the 12th century until the 19th century), practically synonymous in the popular mind with the term is the Spanish Inquisition, mostly due to anti-Spanish Black Legend Propaganda that has been produced from the Reformation until now. Thanks be to God, finally, truth is started to take hold due to people like Diane Moczar, an history professor at North Virginia Community College, Dr. William A. Donahue, the founder and president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights as well as Henry Kamen, a British Historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Please see the links below.

One of the myths that Diane Moczar speaks about in her book, Seven Lies About Catholic History, is the one spun by English Protestant writers detailed the sadistic tortures supposedly used by Spanish Inquisitors.:"It turns out that torture was in fact rarely used, and even when it was, it was very limited. In one group of seven thousand accused persons who came before the Inquisition in Valencia, for example, only two percent were tortured, and for no more than fifteen minutes."

And now for the evidence:

Here are the links to the documentary I spoke of regarding the true nature of the Inquisition-- It would be interesting to contrast to the latest interpretation from the History Channel, still perpetuating the old myths.... Worthwhile for apologetic minded Catholics...