It was troubling that someone on another thread likened the Catholic Church's involvement in the Inquisition and the Crusades to Islamic conversion by the sword and Islamic atrocities in recent years. I hope whoever it was will forgive me for saying that this is nonsense. The BBC (who is no friend to the Church) commissioned some non-Catholic historians to look into original records and make a programme about the Inquisition. These historians concluded that, for its time, the Inquisition was a 'model of fairness'. Over the years I have read anti-Catholic rants about the Inquisition talking about millions or even tens of millions of executions. This is absolutely false. Executions occurred but these were in the order of hundreds over a period of hundreds of years. Indeed King Henry's and Queen Elizabeth's regimes executed more Catholics than the courts of the Inquisition executed heretics and non-Catholics. We Catholics ought to know the truth about this matter because it is one which attracts odium from those outside the Church (and inside apparently!) who don't know the history. Watch this video and I will post further information relating to the Crusades, which also bring undeserved accusations against the Church.
..... and here is a link to accurate information on the Crusades by Professor Thomas Madden. http://www.catholicity.com/commentary/madden/03463.html Who has no doubt that the Crusades were defensive in nature against a highly aggressive foe who had taken over much of the known world and was intent on taking it all.
Amazing, hard to believe the BBC paid for that, was very good ,and my older daughters didnt even groan when I told them to watch.
