Giuseppe Alberghini Quotes
Heretical—one which is contrary to Catholic truth. Erroneous—that which does not directly contradict the faith, but some conclusion evidently deducible from the faith. Savoring of heresy—not contradicting the faith by evident consequence, but by very probable and morally certain consequence. Ill-sounding—that which has a double sense, one Catholic and the other heretic, but usually accepted in the latter. Rash—that which is not governed by reason and lacks all authority. Scandalous or offensive to pious ears—that which gives occasion to another to err, such as ‘heretics are to be tolerated and not to be slain.’ Schismatic or seditious—tending to disrupt the unity of the Church. Impious—contrary to Catholic piety. Insulting—defamatory of some Christian profession or illustrious person. Blasphemous—insulting to God.
The Church exercised the law enforcement and censorship authority in all Catholic countries. Note the offense of saying anything which is “offensive to pious ears”. The particular example that “offended” the pious was that a heretic should not be executed. These were the cultural values of the day.
Giuseppe Alberghini, 1770-1847, Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal & Official of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, Classification of Offenses, Manual for Inquisitors
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
While the Visigoths had some very advanced legal principles, this law, quoted in its entirety is typical of the nations that were part of the Catholic world. The church and its doctrines were immune from any possible criticism, explicit or implicit. This is the most formalized and sophisticated compendium of laws of the so-called “barbaric peoples” of Europe. The compilation was in many ways a documentation of the traditional laws of the Visigoths that had evolved over hundreds of years.
This began the Church's most notorious attack on any dissent or disagreement and it was the start of the Inquisition.
In 2005 an Egyptian writer, Usama Anwar Ukasha, criticized one of the Prophet’s companion’s role for causing dissention and divisiveness in Islamic history. Some called for his legal punishment for slandering a holy figure (see {588714}) and a law case was brought to force him to divorce his wife—so that she would not be “contaminated by his heretical thoughts. Al-Bana argued for freedom of thought and speech on such subjects. His view was particularly important since he was the brother of Hassan Al-Bana, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, a powerful fundamentalist organization. Note that Al-Bana’s call for intellectual freedom does not go so far as to say that it should be legal to criticize The Prophet Muhammad and it illustrates how far even modern Islam has to go to meet reasonable standards of freedom of thought and speech.
In addition to being a Roman Catholic priest, Father Coughlin was an outspoken radio commentator who was well known for his controversial political opinions, see {598783}, {598784}.
The King, a religious exremist fanatic, was a great supporter of the Inquisition whose excesses were horrible during his reign.
He was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for figuring out that the earth revolved around the sun which was contrary to church teaching at the time.
Michael Servetus, 1511-1553, a Spanish theologian, was tried and burned at the stake in Switzerland. John Calvin drew up the charges and pronounced the sentence. However his ill health prevented him from personally officially reading the charges. De la Fontaine did it in his stead. Most people are familiar with the charges of questioning the doctrine of the Trinity. However, before those there were a series of more civilly oriented charges of which sever are given herein. Note the emphasis on his book. It was found do offensive that it was burned along with Servetus. See related quote.
Note the opposition to freedom of speech for contrary theological views. This has been typical of most religions whenever they could exercise or influence state power.
Ingersoll was considered to be the greatest orator and political thinker of his day, but his overt atheistic views curtailed his elected political career.
While Aquinas brought much wisdom and good to the Church, this statement and others laid a foundation for murdering non-believers and organizing the Inquisition.
This is a very interesting quotation for it is a stark illustration of a difference between science and many religions that exists, albeit to a lesser extent. The Church fathers had decided that astrologers and alchemists were in league with the Devil and therefore were to be avoided and not heeded. But Augustine clearly tells us that this is so, even of the astrologers / alchemists were right and had the truth. To the scientist the truth trumps all else. To Augustine, avoiding contamination with the Devil—heresy—is more important than learning the truth. The same sort of logic has been a part of much political culture. When the Communists would decry American Racial discrimination, much of the society claimed that, their ideas should not be considered. Communists were evil and to be shunned—even if they were right about a particular area. To the Tea Party of the early 21st century, elite liberals were to be shunned and discounted even if they sometimes had the truth on their side. The origin of the thinking is with Saint Augustine.
In this speech, and in {634756}, he argued against unification to a public that was mostly opposed. The leadership was interested because they were facing the Muslim Ottoman Turks who were getting more powerful each day. The Eastern Emperor, Constantine XI, more of a soldier and politician than a cleric, wanted the military strength of the Franks and other Western European Christian armies to help protect the Eastern Empire and Byzantium and were willing to reunite under the Pope to get it. Gennadios and his faction were not. They prevailed and the next year, the Muslims conquered Byzantium which had little help from the armies of the Western Roman Empire.
Pope Innocent Iii was an interesting combination of primitive traditional Church inhumanity and intolerance for dissent and modern Christian views at the same time. Consider {45387} and {45384} for his proactive tolerance and protection of Jews and {45383} for his intolerance of Muslims and {45382} for his persecution of heretics.
At the time Islam was quite conflicted about the role of innovation, science and reform. Innovators were to many theologians as dangerous to society as heretics and had to be refuted. Al-Ashari’s school of thought has prevailed in much of the Muslim world to this day.
Although James’ mother, Mary Queen of Scots had been a Catholic, James was a fervent Protestant. However, he found the separation of the State from authority over the church and the Presbyterian approach not to his liking. Also, the early tradition of the Presbyterian preachers scolding the monarch, especially his mother, was uncomfortable for James.
