The truth about the Eucharist

The International Eucharistic Congress 2012 

Is this a Christian event?

By Richard Bennett

      A major news item across the Catholic world for the summer of 2012 is that the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) is to be held in Dublin, Ireland from June 10^th – 17^th.  The Congress is expected to attract 25,000 people a day, including “12,000 international pilgrims representing 99 different countries.”[1]  Just what is a Eucharistic Congress?  A Catholic source replies,

“It is a gathering of Catholics – priests, religious and laity who come together to express their devotion for the Holy Eucharist...The International Congresses are usually 3-5 years apart, which allows for preparation, as they are always held worldwide.  Catholics come from all over the world to participate in the ceremonies and to celebrate Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. ...All believers – clergy, religious and laity line the streets following the Blessed Sacrament.”[2]

Thus it appears that many Catholics take it as fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is present in what they call the “Holy Eucharist.”  The Church of Rome teaches all its adherents this very basic Catholic dogma,

“The mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic species is unique…In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.’”[3]

Thus has the Papacy proclaimed that its Eucharist under the form of bread contains the Lord’s identical body, soul and deity.  They claim all of the bread, except the appearances, is transformed into Christ in His Godhead, and in His manhood with all its component parts: soul, body, blood, bones, flesh, nerves, muscles, veins, and sinews.  What a horrific insult this notion is—for it both ridicules Jesus Christ the Lord and deceives people, defrauding them of the truth.  Our Lord spoke about such a blasphemy as this when He forewarned, “if any man shall say to you, lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not.”[4]  In contrast to the Catholic teaching, the truth is declared in the Scriptures, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”[5]  There is a day appointed in which the Lord will physically return in like manner to His ascension.  One must not expect Him to return until that appointed day when “he will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.”[6]  Consequently, to propose that the glorious Lord Jesus Christ has come back to earth in the lifeless form of bread is an attempt to replace the preaching of the biblical Gospel with a mere physical connection to a Roman Catholic sacrament. 

Rome endeavors to prove its Eucharistic Dogma by citing Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John

Persistently the Church of Rome asserts as fact its dogma that Christ is actually present in its sacrament.  For example, it states, “It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament.”[7]  This dogma is necessary to support another unbiblical premise, “Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet.”  The proof text they use is, “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me (John 6:57).”[8]  According to Catholic teaching, “The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus.”  The proof text attached to their reasoning is, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56).

Moreover, the Vatican goes so far as to state that the Lord Himself urges us to receive Him in the sacrament of the Eucharist.  They officially state,

“The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist:  ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:53).[9]

The alleged change of bread and wine—into the actual body and blood of the Lord—the Vatican calls “transubstantiation.”  Thus, they state,

“By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about.”[10]

The change that is claimed to happen by transubstantiation is dumbfounding.  The Lord is said to exist on earth, not as man, but as bread and wine.  The Papacy claims to be in possession and control of elements in which He presumably is contained.  Its law goes so far as to say that their “Eucharistic Christ” is to be “locked in” the tabernacle.[11]

What is so mind-boggling is Aristotelian physics on which the concept of transubstantiation is based has long been disproven, yet the thirteenth century idolatrous dogma is still the centerpiece of the Catholic sacramental system.[12]  Thus, it is still taught and practiced in every Catholic Church and parish worldwide.       

The Factual meaning of John 6 vis-à-vis Catholic dogma

“Life in Christ” does not “have its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet.”  Neither is “an intimate union with Christ Jesus” any part of the “Eucharist of Holy Communion.”  To buttress its argument, however, Rome cites quotations from John 6 as proof texts.  The particular verses have been wrenched out of their biblical context, which will not support the Catholic interpretation, and carefully placed within the Catholic Tradition.  The effect is to give a superficial but deceptive credence to the humanist reasoning that is the real foundation of Catholic dogma.  Since there can be no synthesis between the authority of the Bible and the authority and Catholic Tradition, the Vatican must ignore the true meaning of what the Lord clearly stated in Chapter 6. 

Earlier in the chapter, the Lord taught that our spiritual desire as believers is not “for the meat which perisheth,” but rather “for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life” (John 6:27).  When the Jews asked the Lord, “what shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (John 6:28), He answered, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29).  This answer sets the stage for what was to come.  Believing on Him alone whom the Father has sent is central to what Christ Jesus proclaimed, for “There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”[13]  On the authority of the Bible alone, to believe on Christ Jesus alone, by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, is the foundation of life in Christ.

Christ Jesus also explained the standard by which His teaching was to be understood.  He said, “it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”[14]  His words are to be understood spiritually, and not after a physical and literal manner.  He is the true food of the soul by faith, not of the stomach by digestion, which is implicit in Catholic teaching on the Eucharist.  The Lord’s teaching is so clear that He equates spiritual thirst with believing on Him, “he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:53).  “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life” (John 6:40). 

Then the Lord explains that, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6: 51).  His flesh He gave willingly in His sacrifice, declaring, “verily, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53).  This speaks of the essential requirement of faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.  The issue is so serious that if one does not trust in the Lord’s sacrifice alone on the cross, he does not have eternal life.  Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of man is a metaphor that signifies spiritually trusting on the Lord in His sacrifice.  Christ Jesus accomplished all the benefits of redemption: pardon from sin, acceptance with God, the adoption as children of God, access to the throne of grace, and eternal life.  Receiving this by faith alone is aptly called eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  Eating His flesh and drinking His blood is being totally identified with Him by faith alone.  His sacrificial death must be appropriated by faith alone, if men are to be saved.  “Eating and drinking” is equivalent to “believing” and confirms the central theme of what He proclaimed which He summarized as, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life ” (John 6:47).  Everlasting life is not a product of an institutional ritual but a work of God the Holy Spirit by His sovereign power.  Individual, personal faith is what the Lord requires.  It is this faith alone, given by God’s grace alone, which brings the forgiveness of sins when sinners believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for everlasting life.  The Apostle Paul clearly states the evidence of one having received Christ as Savior and Lord, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”[15] 

The New Testament says nothing about looking to physical signs to have union with Christ.  Rather, believers are to look, “unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”[16]  He is the Author and Finisher of their faith: its beginning and end.  Rome’s sacraments look to physical rituals for life.  Thus, the sacrament of the Eucharist cannot deliver the “intimate union with Christ Jesus,” which purportedly is its principal fruit.  Just as Buddhists look to their votive offerings before a statue Buddha for enlightenment, so also Catholics look to worship before a piece of bread for spiritual life.  But Jesus prayed to His Father in the garden for those who are His own through God’s grace alone and who believe on Him alone through faith alone, “Sanctify them through thy truth:  Thy word is truth.”[17]  There can be no compromise of the truth with the traditions and imaginations of men, as the Catholic Church has sought to do. 

Obligation to Worship the Eucharist

In spite of the clarity of the Lord’s teaching, Rome disregards Scripture, the evidence of the senses, and reason itself when they teach on the Eucharist.  The eternal, glorious Lord is now seated on high.  To propose a Christ that, in the words of the Vatican, is in “danger of decomposition,”[18] is to put forward a fallacious Christ.  As Mediator and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ is endowed with the highest dignity, honor, and authority.  He also is “the same yesterday, today and forever.”[19]  A claimed presence of Christ in bread that could decompose is totally unrealistic and foolish; worse, it is blasphemous.  Despite that, the Church of Rome strongly commands that the bread is to receive the worship due to the true God.  Thus, she declares,

“There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind ‘that all the faithful ought to show to this most holy sacrament the worship which is due to the true God, as has always been the custom of the Catholic Church.  Nor is it to be adored any the less because it was instituted by Christ to be eaten.’”[20]

It is an irrational and impious doctrine that by necessity imposes worship of something that is eaten and carried into the stomach.  Not without the dreadful crime of idolatry can the worship due to God alone be transferred to the communion bread.  Nevertheless, on April 7, 2012, the Pope himself spoke about the Host being God as he said, “Today we are invited to fix our gaze on the consecrated Host: it is the same God!  The same Love!”[21]  In fact, the Pope and his Church have “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image … changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”[22] 

“This Sham of a Congress”

The Catholic priest Kevin Doran, the Secretary General of IEC, describes what he has called, “this sham of a congress.”  The exact context and Kevin Doran’s words are the following, 

A unique element of the 50^th International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in Dublin from June 10^th - 17^th 2012, is the extensive involvement of Christians of other traditions in both the pastoral preparation and the official programme for the Congress week … Fr. Kevin Doran (Secretary General of IEC2012) commented that, ‘historically, there has been a tendency for Catholics to use the word ‘conversion’ as if it only applied to other people …The principal liturgy on this first full day of the Congress, will be a ‘Liturgy of Word and Water’ celebrated by Most Rev. Michael Jackson (Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin).  The homily will be preached by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of the Russian Orthodox Church.  Meanwhile Brother Alois Löser, prior of Taizé will give the Catechesis (or teaching) on the theme of Baptism.  Other significant ecumenical interventions during the week include: Rev Nicky Gumble, of Alpha International, who will address the theme of reconciliation, and a presentation by Rev Ruth Patterson, Director of Restoration Ministries, on being ‘Companions on the Journey’ of faith.  Prof William Reville will give an address entitled ‘Celebrating the Mystery of Life’.  Then tell me if I’m going too far when I say I do not believe that any of those involved in organising this alleged Eucharistic Congress believe in Transubstantiation, and they certainly do not believe that the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation.  Not for a second.  And something else.  As far as I know the Pope is unlikely to visit Ireland for this sham of a congress…the reader who alerted me to this latest scandal asked if I thought the Pope knows what he is “walking into”…I really don’t care what he knows or doesn’t know.  If I can work out that the Church is in dire straits and souls are being lost through all this ridiculous ecumenism, why can’t HE work it out?[23]  

Indeed, while Kevin Doran vehemently disapproves of the Pope’s ecumenical agenda, vis-à-vis the Congress, it is clear that Doran believes very strongly in transubstantiation and that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.  For Doran, it is too much that the Pope would defile something as solemn and treasured as the Eucharistic Congress by allowing these ecumenical intrusions. 

      In fact, the wily Pope has his own agenda.  He has purposely chosen ranking leaders of other churches and important groups for this very Roman Catholic occasion.  Pope Benedict understands how such an honor can help soften opposition and smooth over dogmatic differences.  The IEC is to be a highly visible public event.  How better to demonstrate to the world that other major churches and religious groups are joining with Rome?  If it were otherwise, how could they be participating in the liturgy of this very Roman Catholic ritual?  This showy event provides yet another occasion that can be used to advance the present Catholic-driven narrative that Catholics are Christians. 

      It has ever been the objective of the Papacy to gather power unto itself.  If devout but lesser men like Kevin Doran are offended and confused when their own leaders trample their primary beliefs, it means nothing to the Pope.  Rather, the primary objective of the Papacy is to gather all Christendom to the Catholic Eucharist.[24]  Pope Benedict XVI is simply staying true to course.

What Hope is there for Religiously Devout Idolaters?

Because God’s justice had to be satisfied, the Lord Jesus drank the dregs of the cup of God’s wrath.  He said, “The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”[25]  In the garden of Gethsemane He proclaimed the words, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch ... And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”[26]  The next day, on the cross of Calvary, the Lord Jesus drank all of the cup of God’s wrath.  At the height of His suffering, He appealed to His Father, “and at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying …  my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.”[27]  Thus, the Lord Jesus utterly drank of God’s wrath against sin and finally cried out, “it is finished.”[28]  Consequently, the tremendous wrath and curse due to believing sinners was paid in full by the Lord Jesus Christ.  As the substitute for His believing people, the Lord drank the cup of God’s wrath.  Now in the Gospel, the sinless Lord presents to sinners His finished sacrifice.  If you are anxious to be right with God, look at what the Scripture proclaims, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.”[29]  This means that God has provided another way to be made righteous than through the law, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  The moral perfection of God is imputed to us sinners, but only as we believe in Jesus Christ alone whose own body was sacrificed on Calvary as substitution for us.  Indeed, we are all sinners deserving the wrath of God, but the glory and the magnificence of the Gospel is further proclaimed as “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”[30]  Believing sinners are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  The Lord God of heaven draws sinners to Jesus Christ’s righteousness.  This is the only hope for religiously devout idolaters.  As Scripture proclaims for sinners, “for He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”[31]  The consequence of Christ’s faithfulness in all that He did, culminating in His death on the cross, is that His righteousness is credited to the believing sinner.  It was God who legally constituted Christ to be “sin for us.”  He was “made sin” because before the All Holy God, full payment for sin had to be made.  Thus, the sins of all His people were transferred to Christ Jesus; and in like manner, His faithfulness is imputed to them.[32]  Since it is the nature of the Triune God to be gracious, we can expect Him to move as a result of our prayer and of our making known abroad the Gospel of grace before, during, and after the Eucharistic Congress of 2012, “to the praise of the glory of his grace.”[33]

Conclusion

The Papal Church purports to be worshipping Christ as it legislates the adoration of the Eucharistic bread.  This is not simply unchristian; it is gross idolatry.  Scripturally speaking, Jesus Christ is worthy to receive adoration.  He Himself declared, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”[34]  Thus, He is worthy of our worship.  Round the throne of God in heaven it is proclaimed, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”[35]  Furthermore, the Scripture reveals how gracious Christ is.  It is He who “dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”[36]  Grace comes only by Christ, “Grace and truth came by Christ Jesus,” “and of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.”[37]  Not only do we adore Him as totally gracious, but we draw deeply from His grace.  Christ Jesus came to give His life for the people whom He loves.  His life and death are not only for our salvation, they are also the source for our living fruitful Christian lives.  Moreover, as He says, His words are spirit and life.  His words are to be taken into the believing mind and heart even as physical food is taken into the physical body.  The Lord’s words, having been absorbed by the mind and believing heart, give life and strength, spiritual nourishment, to the believer so that he is able to do that for which the Lord calls him.[38] 

The Lord declared, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”[39]  The commandment fits the whole characteristic of the grace of Christ.  We love one another by means of His love.  Christ Jesus’ death is not just held up as an example, but as the source of our love.  It is clearly the model of our love, but most importantly, it is the means for us to show our love for our brothers.  Thus, it is only as His love is perfected in us that we can love one another in the same manner as Christ loved the church.  “No one has seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us.”[40]  His love accomplishes what it was designed and adapted to do, to be the power by which we love one another.  We love by means of His faithfulness and His love. 

Consequently, we adore Christ Jesus while at the same time drawing grace from Him.  How utterly different this is from the blasphemous pagan worship of the Eucharist bread during the Eucharistic Congress.  Because Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise, adoration of Him must be apart from all deceitfulness.  As Scripture states, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”[41]  The Apostle John summarizes the believer’s position in Jesus Christ,

“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.  This is the true God, and eternal life.  Little children, keep yourselves from idols.  Amen.”[42]  ♦

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[1] http://lite.rte.ie/news/2012/0314/pope.html

[2] www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/misc/excite.htm  3/20/2012

[3] Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994), Para. 1374

[4] Mark 13:21

[5] Acts 1:11

[6] I Thessalonians 4:16

[7] Catechism Para. 1375

[8] Catechism Para. 1391

[9] Catechism Para. 1384

[10] Catechism Para. 1413

[11] Code of Canon Law, Canon 938 Para 3.  “The tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved habitually is to be immovable, made of solid and opaque material, and locked in such a way that the danger of profanation is avoided as much as possible.”

[12] Catechism Para. 1374

[13] I Timothy 2:5

[14] John 6:63

[15] Romans 10:9-10

[16] Hebrews 12:2

[17] John 17:17

[18] Redemptionis Sacramentum Para. 48; “The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition.”

[19] Hebrews 13:8

[20] No. 9, “Eucharisticum mysterium” in Vatican Council II Documents, Vol. I, Para 3.  Bolding not in the original.

[21] www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/angelus/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20080525_en.html 4/7/2012

[22] Romans 1:23-25

[23] www.catholictruthscotland.com/blog/2012/01/ireland-hosts-eucharistic-congress-2012-gives-a-whole-new-meaning-to-the-term-irish-joke/  5/15/2012

[24] Vatican Council II Document No. 32 Section II, “…ecumenical dialogue... aims at preparing the way for their unity of faith in the bosom of a Church one and visible:  thus ‘little by little’, as the obstacles to perfect ecclesial communion are overcome, all Christians will be gathered, in a common celebration of the Eucharist...” 

[25] John 18:11

[26] Mark 14:34, 36

[27] Mark 15:34

[28] John 19:30

[29] Romans 3:21

[30] Romans 3:24

[31] II Corinthians 5:21

[32] Romans 3:22

[33] Ephesians 1:6

[34] Revelation 1:8

[35] Revelation 1:8

[36] John 1:14

[37] John 1:17, John 16

[38] Ephesians 2:10,  “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” 

[39] John 15:12

[40] I John 4:12

[41] John 4:24

[42] I John 5:20, 21

The Priest, the Woman, and the Confessional by Charles Chiniquy,former Roman Catholic priest

 Royalblood: Before you continue turn your Bible to these.

• The bible says confess faults one to another, not sins James 5:16.
• 1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (self explanatory).
• Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked: who can know it?
• 2 Thessalonian2: 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
  9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
  10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
  11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
  12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
  

From the Book :

The Priest, the Woman, and the Confessional by Charles Chiniquy,former Roman Catholic priest

CHAPTER V.
The Highly Educated and Refined Woman in the Confessional.—What Becomes of Her Unconditional Surrender.—Her Irreparable Ruin

THE most skilful warrior has never had to display so much skill and so many ruses de guerre—he has never had to use more tremendous efforts to reduce and storm an impregnable citadel, than the confessor, who wants to reduce and storm the citadel of self-respect and honesty which God Himself has built around the soul and the heart of every daughter of Eve.
But, as it is through woman that the Pope wants to conquer the world, it is supremely important that he should enslave and degrade her by keeping her at his feet as his footstool, that she may become a passive instrument for the accomplishment of his vast and profound scheme.

In order perfectly to master women in the higher circles of society, every confessor is ordered by the Pope to learn the most complicated and perfect strategy. He has to study a great number of treatises on the art of persuading the fair sex to confess to him plainly, clearly, and in detail, every thought, every secret desire, word, and deed, just as they occurred.
And that art is considered so important and so difficult that all the theologians of Rome call it the art of arts."
Dens, St. Liguori Chevassu, the author of the "Mirror of the Clergy," Debreyne, and a multitude of authors too numerous to mention, have given the curious and scientific rules of that secret art.
They all agree in declaring that it is a most difficult and dangerous art; they all confess that the least error of judgment, the least imprudence or temerity, when storming the impregnable citadel, is certain death (spiritual, of course) to the confessor and the penitent.
The confessor is taught to make the first steps towards the citadel with the utmost caution, in order that his female penitent may not suspect at first, what he wants her to reveal; for that would generally induce her to shut for ever the door of the fortress against him. After the first steps of advance, he is advised to make several steps back, and to put himself in a kind of spiritual ambuscade, to see the effect of his first advance. If there is any prospect of success, then the word "March on!" is given, and a more advanced post of the citadel must be tried and stormed, if possible. In that way, little by little, the whole place is so well surrounded, so well crippled, denuded and dismantled, that any more resistance seems impossible on the part of the rebellious soul.
Then, the last charge is ordered, the final assault is made; and if God does not perform a real miracle to save that soul, the last walls crumble, the doors are beaten down; then the confessor makes a triumphant entry into the place; the very heart, soul, conscience, and intelligence are conquered.
When once master of the place, the priest visits all its most secret recesses and corners; he pries into its most sacred chambers. The conquered place is entirely and absolutely in his hands; he is the supreme master; for the surrender has been unconditional. The confessor has become the only infallible ruler in the conquered place—nay, he has become its only God—for it is in the name of God he has besieged, stormed and conquered it; it is in the name of God that, hereafter, he will speak and be obeyed.
No human words can adequately convey an idea of the irreparable ruin which follows the successful storming and unconditional surrender of that, once, noble fortress. The longer and stronger the resistance has been, the more terrible and complete is the destruction of its beauty and strength; the nobler the struggle has been, the more irretrievable are the ruin and loss. Just as the higher and stronger the dam is built to stem the current of the rapid and deep waters of the river, the more awful will be the disasters which follows its destruction; so it is with that noble soul. A mighty dam has been built by the very hand of God, called self-respect and womanly-modesty, to guard her against the pollutions of this sinful world; but the day that the priest of Rome succeeds, after long efforts, in destroying it, the soul is carried by an irresistible power into unfathomable abysses of iniquity. Then it is that the once respected lady will consent to hear, without a blush, things against which the most degraded woman would indignantly shut her ears. Then it is that she freely speaks with her confessor on matters, for reprinting which a printer in England has lately been sent to jail.
At first, in spite of herself, but soon with a real sensual pleasure, that fallen angel, when alone, will think on what she has heard, and what she has said in the confessional-box. Then, in spite of herself, the vilest thoughts will, at first irresistibly fill her mind; and soon the thoughts will engender temptations and sins. But those vile temptations and sins, which would have filled her with horror and regret before her entire surrender into the hands of the foe, beget very different sentiments, now that she is no more her own self-possessor and guide. The conviction of her sins is no more connected with the thought of a God, infinitely holy and just, whom she must serve and fear. The convictions of her sins is now immediately connected with the thought of a man with whom she will have to speak, and who will easily make everything right and pure in her soul by his absolution.
When the day for going to confession comes, instead of being sad, uneasy and bashful, as she used to be formerly, she feels pleased and delighted to have a new opportunity of conversing on those matters without impropriety and sin to herself; for she is now fully persuaded that there is no impropriety, no shame, no sin; nay, she believes, or tries to believe, that it is a good, honest, Christian, and godly thing to converse with her priest on those matters.
Her most happy hours are when she is at the feet of that spiritual physician, showing him all the newly-made wounds of her soul, and explaining all her constant temptations, her bad thoughts, her most intimate secret desires and sins.
Then it is that the most sacred mysteries of the married life are revealed; then it is that the mysterious and precious pearls which God has given as a crown of mercy to those whom He has made one body, one heart and soul, by the blessed ties of a Christian union, are lavishly thrown before swine. Whole hours are passed by the fair penitent in thus speaking to her Father Confessor with the utmost freedom, on matters which would rank her amongst the most profligate and lost women, if it were only suspected by her friends and relatives. A single word of those intimate conversations would be followed by an act of divorce on the part of her husband, if it were known by him.
But the betrayed husband knows nothing of the dark mysteries of auricular confession; the duped father suspects nothing; a cloud from hell has obscured the intelligence of them both, and made them blind. On the contrary,—husbands and fathers, friends and relations, feel edified and pleased with the touching spectacle of the piety of Madam and Miss —. In the village, as well as in the city, every one has a word to speak in their praise. Mrs.—is so often seen humbly prostrated at the feet, or by the side, of her confessor; Miss—remains so long in the confessional-box; they receive the holy communion so frequently; they both speak so eloquently and so often of the admirable piety, modesty, holiness, patience, charity, of their incomparable spiritual Father!
Every one congratulates them on their new and exemplary life, and they accept the compliment with the utmost humility, attributing their rapid progress in Christian virtues to the holiness of their confessor. He is such a spiritual man; who could not make rapid strides under such a holy guide?
The more constant the temptations, the more the secret sins overwhelm the soul, and the more airs of peace and holiness are put on. The more foul the secret emanations of the heart, the more the fair and refined penitent surrounds herself by an atmosphere of the sweetest perfumes of a sham piety. The more polluted the inside of the sepulchre is, the more shining and white the outside will be kept.
Then it is that, unless God performs a miracle to prevent it, the ruin of that soul is sealed. She has drunk in the poisonous cup filled by the "mother of harlots," she has found the wine of her prostitution sweet! She will henceforth delight in her spiritual and secret orgies. Her holy (?) confessor has told her that there is no impropriety, no shame, no sin, in that cup. The Pope has sacrilegiously written the word "Life" on that cup of "Death." She has believed the Pope; the terrible mystery of iniquity is accomplished!
"The mystery of iniquity doth already work, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess. ii. 7-12.)
Yes; the day that the rich, well-educated lady gives up her self-respect, and unconditionally surrenders the citadel of womanly modesty into the hands of a man, whatever be his name or titles, that he may freely put to her questions of the vilest character, which she must answer, she is lost and degraded, just as if she were the humblest and poorest servant-girl.
I purposely say "the rich and well-educated woman," for I know that there is a prevalent opinion that the social position of her class places her above the corrupting influences of the confessional, as if she were out of the reach of the common miseries of our poor fallen and sinful nature.
So long as the well-educated lady makes use of her accomplishments to defend the citadel of her womanly self-respect against the foe—so long as she sternly keeps the door of her heart shut against her deadly enemy—she is safe.
But let no one forget this: she is safe only so long as she does not surrender. When the enemy is once master of the place, I emphatically repeat, the ruinous consequences are as great, if not greater, and more irreparable than in the lowest classes of society. Throw a piece of precious gold into the mud, and tell me if it will not plunge deeper than the piece of rotten wood.
What woman could be nobler, purer, and stronger than Eve when she came from the hands of her Divine Creator? But how quickly she fell when she gave ear to the seducing voice of the tempter! How irreparable was her ruin when she complacently looked on the forbidden fruit, and believed the lying voice which told her there was no sin in eating of it!
I solemnly, in the presence of the great God, who ere long, will judge me, give my testimony on this grave subject. After 25 years' experience in the confessional, I declare that the confessor himself encounters more terrible dangers when hearing the confessions of refined and highly educated ladies, than when listening to those of the humbler classes of his female penitents.
I solemnly testify that the well-educated lady, when she has once surrendered herself to the power of her confessor, becomes at least as vulnerable to the arrows of the enemy as the poorer and less educated. Nay, I must say that, once on the downhill road of perdition, the high-bred lady runs headlong into the pit with a more deplorable rapidity than her humbler sister.
All Canada is witness that a few years ago, it was among the highest ranks of society that the Grand Vicar Superior of the college of Montreal, was choosing his victims, when the public cry of indignation and shame forced the Bishop to send him back to Europe, where he, soon after, died. Was it not also among the higher classes of society that a superior of the Seminary of
Quebec was destroying souls, when he was detected, and forced, during a dark night, to fly and conceal himself behind the walls of the Trappist Monastery of Iowa?
Many would be the folio volumes which I should have to write, were I to publish all that my twenty five years' experience in the confessional has taught me of the unspeakable secret corruption of the greatest part of the so-called respectable ladies, who have unconditionally surrendered themselves into the hands of their holy (?) confessors. But the following fact will suffice for those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and an intelligence to understand:
In one of the most beautiful and thriving towns along the St. Lawrence River, lived a rich merchant. He was young, and his marriage with a most lovely, rich and accomplished young lady had made him one of the happiest men in the land.
A few years after his marriage, the Bishop appointed to that town a young priest, really remarkable for his eloquence, zeal, and amiable qualities; and the merchant and the priest soon became connected by links of the most sincere friendship.
The young, accomplished wife of the merchant soon became the model woman of the place under the direction of her new confessor.
Many and long were the hours she used to pass by the side of her spiritual father to be purified and enlightened by his godly advices. She soon was seen at the head of the few who had the privilege of receiving the holy communion once a week. The husband, who was a good Raman Catholic himself, blessed God and the Virgin Mary, that he had the privilege of living with such an angel of piety.
Nobody had the least suspicion of what was going on under that holy and white mantle of the most exalted piety. Nobody, except God and His angels, could hear the questions put by the priest to his fair penitent, and the answers made during the long hours of their tete-a-tete in the confessional-box. Nobody but God could see the hellish fires which were devouring the hearts of the confessor and his victim! For nearly one year, both the young priest and his spiritual patient enjoyed, in those intimate and secret conversations, all the pleasure which lovers feel when they can speak freely to each other of their secret thoughts and love.
But this was not enough for them. They both wanted something more real; though the difficulties were great, and seemed insurmountable. The priest had his mother and sister with him, whose eyes were too sharp to allow him to invite the lady to his own house for any criminal object, and the young husband had no business, at a distance, which could keep him long enough out of his happy home to allow the Pope's confessor to accomplish his diabolical designs.
But when a poor fallen daughter of Eve has a mind to do a thing, she very soon finds the means, particularly if high education has added to her natural shrewdness.
And in this case, as in many others of a similar nature which have been revealed to me, she soon found out how to attain her object without compromising herself or her holy (?) confessor. A plan was soon found and cordially agreed to; and both patiently awaited their opportunity.
"Why have you not gone to mass to-day and received the holy communion, my dear?" said the husband. "I had ordered the servant-man to put the horse in the buggy for you, as usual."
" I am not very well, my beloved; I have passed a sleepless night from headache."
"I will send for the physician," replied the husband.
"Yes, my dear; do send for the physician—perhaps he will do me good."
One hour after the physician called, and he found his fair patient a little feverish, pronounced that there was nothing serious, and that she would soon be well. He gave her a little powder, to be taken three times a day, and left; but at 9 P. M., she complained of a great pain in the chest, and soon fainted and fell on the floor.
The doctor was again immediately sent for, but he was from home; it took nearly half an hour before he could come. When he arrived the alarming crisis was over—she was sitting in an arm-chair, with some neighboring women, who were applying cold water and vinegar to her forehead.
The physician was really at a loss what to say of the cause of such a sudden illness. At last, he said that it might be an attack of "ver solitaire." (tapeworm). He declared that it was not dangerous; that he knew how to cure her. He ordered some new powder to be taken, and left, after having promised to return the next day. Half an hour after, she began to complain of a most terrible pain in her chest, and fainted again; but before doing so, she said to her husband:
"My dear, you see that the physician understands absolutely nothing of the nature of my disease. I have not the least confidence in him, for I feel that his powders make me worse. I do not want to see him any more. I suffer more than you suspect, my beloved; and if there is not soon a change, I may be dead to-morrow. The only physician I want is our holy confessor; please make haste to go and get him. I want to make a general confession, and to receive the holy viaticum (communion) and extreme unction before I grow worse."
Beside himself with anxiety, the distracted husband ordered the horse to be put in the buggy, and made his servant accompany him on horseback, to ring the bell, while his pastor carried "the good god" (Le Bon Dieu) to his dear sick wife.
He found the priest piously reading his breviarium (his book of daily prayers), and admired the
charity and promptitude with which his good pastor, in that dark and chilly night, was ready to leave his warm and comfortable parsonage at the first appeal of the sick. In less than an hour, the husband had taken the priest with "the good god" from the church to the bedroom of his wife.
All along the way, the servant-man had rung a big hand-bell, to awaken the sleeping farmers, who, at the noise, had to jump, half naked, out of their beds, and worship, on their knees, with their faces prostrate in the dust, "the good god" which was being carried to the sick by the holy (?) priest.
On his arrival, the confessor, with every appearance of sincere piety, deposited "the good god" (Le Bon Dieu) on a table richly prepared for such a solemn occasion, and, approaching the bed, leaned his head towards his penitent, and inquired how she felt.
She answered him, "I am very sick, and I want to make a general confession before I die."
Speaking to her husband, she said, with a fainting voice, "Please, my dear, tell my friends to withdraw from the room, that I may not be distracted when making what may be my last confession."
The husband respectfully requested the friends to leave the room with him, and shut the door, that the holy confessor might be alone with his penitent during her general confession.
One of the most diabolical schemes, under the cover of auricular confession, had perfectly succeeded. The mother of harlots, the great enchantress of souls, whose seat is on the city of the "seven bills," had, there, her priest to bring shame, disgrace, and damnation, under the mask of Christianity.
The destroyer of souls, whose masterpiece is auricular confession, had, there, for the millionth time, a fresh opportunity of insulting the God of purity through one of the most criminal actions which the dark shades of night can conceal.
But let us draw the veil over the abominations of that hour of iniquity, and let us leave to hell its dark secrets.
After he had accomplished the ruin of his victim and most cruelly and sacrilegiously abused the confidence of his friend, the young priest opened the door of the room and said, with a sanctimonious air, "You may now enter to pray with me, while I give the last sacrament to our dear sick sister."
They came in: "the good god" (Le Bon Dieu) was given to the woman; and the husband, full of gratitude for the considerate attention of his priest, took him back to his parsonage, and
thanked him most sincerely for having so kindly come to visit his wife in so chilly a night.
Ten years later I was called to preach a retreat (a kind of revival) in that same parish. That lady, then an absolute stranger to me, came to my confessional-box and confessed to me those details as I now give them. She seemed to be really penitent, and I gave her absolution and the entire pardon of her sins, as my Church told me to do. On the last day of the revival, the merchant invited me to a grand dinner. Then it was that I came to know who my penitent had been. I must not forget to mention that she had confessed to me that, of her four children, the last three belonged to her confessor! He had lost his mother, and, his sister having married, his parsonage had become more accessible to his fair penitents, many of whom had availed themselves of that opportunity to practice the lessons they had learned in the confessional. The priest had been removed to a higher position, where he, more than ever, enjoyed the confidence of his superiors, the respect of the people, and the love of his female penitents.
I never felt so embarrassed in my life as when at the table of that so cruelly victimised man. We had hardly begun to take our dinner when he asked me if I had known their late pastor, the amiable Rev. Mr. —.
I answered, "Yes, sir, I know him."
"Is he not a most accomplished priest?"
"Yes, sir, he is a most accomplished man," I answered.
"Why is it," rejoined the good merchant, "that the Bishop has taken him away from us? He was doing so well here; he had so deservedly earned the confidence of all by his piety and gentlemanly manners that we made every effort to keep him with us. I drew up a petition myself, which all the people signed, to induce the Bishop to allow him to remain in our midst; but in vain. His lordship answered us that he wanted him for a more important place, on account of his rare ability, and we had to submit. His zeal and devotedness knew no bounds; in the darkest and most stormy nights he was always ready to come to the first call of the sick; I shall never forget how quickly and cheerfully he responded to my appeal when, a few years ago, I went, on one of our most chilly nights, to request him to visit my wife, who was very sick."
At this stage of the conversation, I must confess that I nearly laughed outright. The gratitude of that poor dupe of the confessional to the priest who had come to bring shame and destruction to his house, and the idea of that very man going himself to convey to his home the corruptor of his own wife, seemed to me so ludicrous that for a moment, I had to make a superhuman effort to control myself.
But I was soon brought to my better senses by the shame which I felt at the idea of the unspeakable degradation and secret infamy of the clergy of which I was a member. At that instant, hundreds of instances of similar, if not greater, depravity, which had been revealed to
me through the confessional, came to my mind, and distressed and disgusted me so that my tongue was almost paralysed.
After dinner, the merchant asked his lady to call the children that I might see them, and I could not but admire their beauty. But I do not need to say that the pleasure of seeing these dear and lovely little ones was much marred by the secret, though sure, knowledge I had, that the three youngest were the fruits of the unspeakable depravity of auricular confession in the higher ranks of society.

Systematic murder of believers the untold history of the inquisition by Richard Bennett

Systematic Murder of Believers
The Untold History of the Inquisition
By Richard Bennett
Most people at the present time have some knowledge of the Holocaust, the six years of
unspeakable horror and suffering to which the Jewish people were subjected under Hitler and the
Nazis during the Second World War. Few, however, are aware of the atrocities of systematized
torture and murder of Bible-believing Christians and Jews that took place during the 605 years of
the Inquisition.1
From the beginning of the Papacy to the present time, it is estimated by reputable and
trustworthy historians that tens of millions of people have been tortured and killed by Papal
persecutors for the crime of believing God’s word in the Bible, rather than the dogmas of the
Roman Catholic Church. While the majority of those who suffered were true believers, Papal
Rome also persecuted Jews, Muslims, Knights Templar, and those that she called “witches.
Through the Inquisition was demonstrated the grace and divine power that the Lord gave
to His people to survive those horrific years with their faith strengthened. Also shown was the
inner heart of ritualistic Catholicism and the lengths to which it will go to enforce its will. It is
truly a warning for succeeding generations.
In 1203, Pope Innocent III published a decree in France that
began the extermination of what the Pope called heresy. This
marked the start of the Inquisition as a distinctive Papal
institution. It was to endure until its final dissolution in Spain
and Portugal in 1808. Pope Innocent III began by
commanding armies of the Crusade to attack the Albigenses
in France. They were called Albigenses because many of
them resided in the city of Albi in southern France. They had
developed a committed Christian life, real estate, progressive
cities, and townships right across southern France. These
Christians were horrifically destroyed and butchered by the
armies of Papal Rome in their many cities, towns, and villages
across southern France. The Albigenses came from a group
that was originally known as the Paulicians, who took their
teaching from the Apostle Paul. Even their name, ‘Albigenses,’ has been deeply tarnished by
Roman Catholic sources. Not only were they slaughtered, but their memory has been practically
obliterated from the pages of history. However, from their fruits as Christians, we truly see the
character of these men and women who traced their faith back to the writings of Paul the Apostle
in the New Testament.
From the thirteenth century onwards, the machinery of the Papal Inquisition’s terrorism
was created. The Popes compelled secular authorities to co-operate under threat of drastic
penalties. Kings and princes who disobeyed the Popes’ orders were to be excommunicated and
1 The main historians that wrote on the Inquisition are Dowling, Lea, Vancandard, Maycock,
Coulton, Turberville and Scott
2
their subjects released from loyalty to them. In 1252, Pope Innocent IV devised in detail for the
many Inquisitors how torture was to be carried out. He did this in his decree called, At
Extirpanda. Confirmatory or regulatory decrees were later issued by Popes Alexander IV,
Clement IV, Urban IV, and Clement V. Torture was prescribed, but it was to stop short of
pulling off limbs or causing death. Disastrous punishments were enacted on all who protected or
gave help to believers. Those who applied the instruments of torture during the Inquisition were
following orders. The Popes themselves were wholly responsible for the instruments and how
they were used.
Then, in 1487, Pope Innocent VIII planned and ordered the persecution of the Vaudois
believers who had remained faithful to biblical faith since apostolic times.
Charles VIII of France agreed to raise an army for the destruction of the Vaudois.The Pope promised forgiveness of sins and a share in the goods to those who participated. The army was joined by thousands of gangsters urged on by the promise of forgiveness of sins and the
expectation of obtaining spoil from the Vaudois possessions. This army attacked the Vaudois mountain valleys in northern Italy. Thousands of Bible-believing Christians perished along with their homes while their crops were destroyed.Entire villages were demolished. Their women were raped and then viciously
murdered.True Believers: the Vaudois in Piedmont Valley For the most part, there is agreement among scholars about the history of the Inquisition.Lea’s great works, the History of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages and the History of the Inquisition of Spain, embodied immense and careful research. There is little difference about facts in the writings of Dowling, Vancandard, Maycock, Coulton, and Turberville. The methods of the Inquisition were an outrage to elementary principles of justice. Anyone could be arrested
on suspicion. The trials were secret. The prisoner was not allowed to know the accusers or witnesses. The Bishops and priests who acted as judges had absolute power. The evidence of infamous persons, criminals, or perjurers was admitted so long as it was hostile. Children older than twelve were required to bear testimony. The prisoner was disallowed the help of an advocate, for anyone defending a prisoner was held guilty of the crime of heresy. A person tried by the Inquisition was scarcely ever acquitted. “In the register of Carcassonne from 1249 to 1258, comprising about two hundred cases, there is not a single case in which a prisoner was
discharged as innocent.” Tanon, a French investigator, wrote, “There is scarcely ever an acquittal, pure and simple, in the sentence of the Inquisition.”2 There were many accounts of burning at the stake across Europe. The ferocious Inquisitor, Robert le Bugre, who considered his mission was “not to convert but to burn,”


devastated much of France. In one period of about three months he is said to have thus
dispatched about fifty prisoners of either sex, and the whole number of his victims during the
several years of his unchecked career was very large.3 The notorious Conrad of Marburg caused a general panic in Germany where he was appointed Inquisitor by Pope Gregory IX. In 1520, Pope Leo X in his famous decree, Exsurge Domine, denounced the teachings of Luther with the following words, “That heretics should be burned is contrary to the will of the Spirit. The Roman Catholic scholar Lord Acton wrote,
“Rome taught for four centuries that no Catholic could be saved who denied that heretics ought
to be put to death.”
The prisons of the Inquisition were some of the most common and atrocious places. The Inquisitors could leave people in their prisons indefinitely, without trial. The Inquisitor Eymeric, in his
records called Directorium, stated that a person believed guilty “shall be shut up in prison, strictly confined and in chains. If he shows no willingness to be converted there is no need for haste for the pains and privations of imprisonment often bring about a change of mind.”5 To quote Lea, “The dungeons of the
Inquisition were abodes of fearful misery, but where there were reasons for increasing their terrors there was no difficulty in increasing the hardships. The chains and starvation in a stifling
hole was a favorite device for extracting confession from unwilling lips.”
Historians give us some detailed information about some of the prisons of the Inquisition. Even some Catholic priests complained about the prison conditions in some towns in the south of France. Historians tell that the cells were fitted up with a variety of
instruments to cause severe suffering. Many prisoners, through the severity of their torments,
lost the use of their limbs and were rendered utterly helpless.
The burning at the stake was the standard way that the Papacy disposed of believers.
This was usually done with dramatic pomp and festivity before the massive gatherings of people.
It was as if the Roman Church believed that both their bodies and beliefs would disappear into
cinders. In England, Mary Tudor, known as “Bloody Mary,” a fervent Catholic beholden to the
Pope, employed the Inquisition to burn no fewer than 288 Bible-believing martyrs. Most of
them died because they denied the Catholic dogma that Jesus Christ is really present, flesh and
blood, body and soul, divinity and humanity in the communion bread. The burning back to back
of Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley at the stake outside Balliol College Oxford, in
1555, is known to many people. So also are Latimer’s stirring last words an inspiration to
Christians over the centuries, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall
this day, by God’s grace, light such a candle in England as I trust shall never be put out.”
3Lea, History of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, Vol. 11, p. 116
4 Lord Acton Correspondence, Vol. 1, p. 108
5Maycock, The Inquisition, p. 157
6Lea, History of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, Vol. 1, p. 420
4
The Instruments of Torture
“The Rack” is one of the best known forms of medieval torture. This mechanism operated by
having the victim lie on a horizontal rack with his hands and ankles tied to rollers on opposite

ends.
The Inquisitors would perform the
interrogation while turning the rollers,
stretching the body of the suspect and
causing colossal pain.
They would stretch the body out until the joints were actually yanked from their sockets. The
ultimate intent was that of killing the victim either through shock or injuries. If the believer were
still alive, yet refused to submit, he or she was sent to be burned at the stake.
Besides the Rack, there was the torture of pulling the believer towards the ceiling with
ropes, and then with a weight on his or her feet, dropping him or her to the floor so that
excruciating pain ripped through the body.
The Inquisitors also used “Skull Crusher.” They ordered the believer’s chin to be
placed on a lower bar and a screw then forced an iron cap down on his or her head.
Their teeth could be crushed. Their eyes could be squeezed from their sockets.
It was hoped that the believer was so overcome by the extreme pain of having his
head crushed would confess his alleged errors and believe in the Holy Mother
Church.
The Inquisitors also used the “Iron Maiden.” It was a tomb-sized container
with folding doors. The spiked studded arms wrapped around the victim in such a way so as to
puncture parts of the entire body, including the ears and eyes.
The purpose of the use of Iron Maiden was to inflict pain by means of
vicious spikes and a slow death. The prickles inside were designed so that
the trapped believer was left to slowly die in the utmost pain.
A prisoner would be bidden to stand right in front of Iron Maiden prior to
torture. The spring would be touched by the executioner and the Iron
Maiden would fling open her arms, and the wretched victim would
straightway be forced within them. Another spring was then touched and the Iron Maiden closed upon her victim. Then spiky arms of the Iron Maiden slowly but irresistibly closed upon the man, cruelly goring him.
The talons Iron Maiden, sometimes called the “Iron Virgin,” were not designed to kill outright. They trapped the prisoner who was left  to slowly perish in the utmost pain. Beside these instruments of torture there were others for the tearing and ripping of one’s flesh.


The Catholic Church learned a human being could live
until the skin was peeled down to the waist. Often the
torturers heated these instruments and then used them on
women’s breasts and the genital organs of both sexes.
There were also instruments for compressing the fingers until the bones would be squeezed into
splinters. There were instruments for probing below the fingernails until pain like burning fire
would run along the nerves.
There were instruments for tearing out the tongue, for scooping out the eyes, and for rooting out the ears. There wasa bunch of iron cords with a spiked circle at the end of every whip for tearing the flesh from the back until bone and sinew were laid bare.
There were also iron cases for the legs, which were tightened upon the limb placed in them by means of a screw, till flesh and bone were reduced to a pulp.
The thumbscrews were also applied to crush prisoners’ toes, while larger, heavier devices based on the same design principle were applied to destroy knees and elbows.






The Chair of Nails Torture

The chair nails, used by Inquisitors, was studded with spikes. The victim was strapped naked in the chair and a fire was lit beneath it. Heavy
objects were placed upon the victim to increase the pain of the spikes.
Blows with mallets were also used to inflict more pain.
There were also devices to slowly and painfully remove the intestines and
other organs from the body while keeping the person alive and conscious
of the pain. Anyone of those horrors could be inflicted on anybody, i.e.,
man, woman, or child over the age of 12 that did not agree with the
teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The Inquisition was carried out in France, Holland, Germany, Spain, and Italy.



The Stocks Torture
The victims often had their feet placed in stocks. The
stocks comprised two pieces of timber clamped together,
over and under, across each leg above the ankles. The
soles of the victim’s feet were greased with lard and a
blazing brazier was applied to them. Their feet were first
blistered and then fried. At intervals, a plank was
interposed between the fire and their feet. This plank was
to be immediately removed if the victims failed to admit
that they were guilty as charged.
The Inquisition in Spain perpetrated horrors on a more terrific scale than in other
countries. Activities in Spain were more atrocious and its hecatombs of victims more numerous
than elsewhere. The atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition cannot be disputed. Torquemada, the
most infamous of the Inquisitors for ferocity, had full papal authorization. He was commissioned
by Pope Sixtus IV in 1483. He was re-commissioned by Innocent VIII in 1485. So far were the
popes from seeking to hold back Torquemada’s inhuman cruelties that we find them praising him
and encouraging him. Pope Sixtus IV wrote to him praised his zeal, saying “We commend you
in the Lord and exhort you, cherished son, to persevere with tireless zeal in aiding and promoting
the cause of faith, by doing which, as we are assured you will, you will win our special favor.”
In Spain the burnings of believers was called “Autos-da-fé” there they had peculiar pomp and
festivity. As late as 1680 there was a stunning Auto-da-fé at Madrid at which one hundred
believers were burned. The historian Turberville quotes Voltaire’s comment; “that an Asiatic
arriving in Madrid on such an occasion would be doubtful whether he was witnessing a festival,
a religious ceremony, a sacrifice, or a massacre; it was in fact all of these.”7 The Judas Chair was
also a torture device used in the Spanish Inquisition.

The Actual Judas Chair and the Art work showing Chair as it was used
The Judas Chair, also known as the Judas Cradle, was a pyramid-shaped seat. The victim was placed on
top of it, with the point inserted into their orifices, then very slowly lowered by ropes.
The purpose was to Turberville,







The Spanish Inquisition, stretch the orifice over a long period of time in extreme pain in order that the victim would renounce his or her faith. Then bishops and priests of the Inquisition used a devise for breaking a believer’s faith as he was

tied to a wheel. Clubbing and mocking would accompany this torture.


An attempt to break a believer’s faith as he was tied to a wheel Then there was the commonly used torture technique called the “Strappado.’ All that was needed was a sturdy rafter and some rope. The victims wrists were bound behind their back and the rope tossed over the beam or on a pulley. The victim was  repeatedly dropped from a height so their arms and shoulders would dislocate. This and many more torture devices were use to get the believer to renounce his or her Christian faith, and then profess his or her faith in the Roman Church. We rejoice that the believers for the most part, remained true to the Lord. We realize that  Bible believers in those horrendous years were fortified by the power of
God through faith. They experienced what the Apostle Peter wrote that as believers we are “kept by the power of God through faith.” Consequently, kept by the power of God, their faith resounded at that time before the throne of God, and it still resounds on the pages of history for those who dare comprehend the true historical accounts. The torture chambers of the Inquisition lasted 605 years and were found throughout the nationscontrolled by Papal Rome. They had their beginning under Pope Innocent III in 1203 until the
Inquisition’s final dissolution in Spain and Portugal in 1808.

Twentieth Century Inquisition in Croatia
In 1929, Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty with Pope Pius XI officially conceding Vatican
Hill to the Pope. The Papacy once again became a sovereign civil state. The legal agreement
between Mussolini and the Vatican was just the beginning. Following this, the Papacy formed
alliances in the twentieth century with Roman Catholic dictators such as Adolph Hitler of
Germany, Francisco Franco of Spain, Antonio Salazar of Portugal, and Juan Peron of Argentina.
But the alliance that proved to be the most brutal and bloodthirsty of all was that between the
Papacy and Anton Pavelic in Croatia. It was agreed that Anton Pavelic8 was to be head of the
new nation state of Croatia, which was carved out of Yugoslavia during the Second World War.
During Pavelic’s four-year reign, he and Roman Catholic
Prelate, Archbishop Alois Stepinac, pursued a “convert or
die” policy among the 900,000 Greek Othodox Serbs,
Jews, and others in Croatia. 200,000 were converted; the
700,000 who chose to die were tortured, burned, buried
alive, or shot after digging their own graves. This
appalling persecution carried out by the Ustashis included
many of the worst atrocities of history. The mutilations
were horrific, the tortures vicious, and the savagery
terrible. The Catholic Church did not leave the execution

 of a religious war to the secular arm. She was there herself, openly ignoring precautions and bolder than she had been for a very long time. Wielding the hatchet or dagger, pulling the trigger, organizing the massacre, the Roman  Anton Pavelic with Archbishop Stepina Catholic priests became their own instruments of the
Inquisition.Anton Pavelic with Franciscan Monks  Many of the Ustashi
officers were priests or friars sworn to fight “with
dagger or gun,” for the “triumph of Christ and Croatia.” Priests played a prominent role in the
closing or takeover of Serbian Orthodox Churches,
the seizure of church records and the interrogation of the Serbian Orthodox clergy. They
also supervised concentration camps and organized the torture of many of the victims.
 Ante Pavelic b. July 14, 1889 – d. December 28, 1959

French author Edmond Paris, who was born a Roman Catholic and has written a very thorough
account of this terrible massacre in his book Convert or Die, has said,
“It is difficult for the world to believe that a whole people could be doomed to
extermination by a government and religious hierarchy of the twentieth century, just
because it happened to belong to another ethnical and racial group and had inherited the
Christianity of Byzantium rather than that of Rome.”
The creation of the entirely Roman Catholic, independent State of Croatia during the Second
World War was accompanied by a persecution so ferocious that it is difficult to find a parallel in
all of history. The Inquisition applied to the Serbian Orthodox by the Croatian Catholics
accounted for 700,000 Serbs being tortured and killed in just four years. So while the Inquisition
ended in the nineteenth century, the same procedures and mindset were evident in Croatia in the
twentieth century. In fact, the same mindset is still officially maintained by the Papacy in the
twenty-first century. The Roman Church to this day maintains the laws that she used as her
authority to torture and murder Bible believers for over 600 years. In her present-day laws she
states her right to coerce Christian people. Thus Canon law, Canon 1311, states,
“The [Catholic] Church has an innate and proper right to coerce offending members of
the Christian faithful by means of papal sanctions.”
The Catholic Church also holds to the fact that she can demand a submission of intellect and will
as she did in the years of the Inquisition. Consequently she states the following,
“A religious respect of intellect and will, even if not the assent of faith, is to be paid to
the teaching which the Supreme Pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate on faith and
morals.”
So to whatever the Supreme Pontiff or his college of bishops teach on faith and morals, a person
must submit their intellect and will. This is the same teaching that was upheld with the terrors of
the Inquisition for 600 years. While there are no sanctions in torture and death at the present
time, the same astonishing mindset is Roman Catholic law. The fact is that the Papacy still
claims the right to judge and impose chastening that has not changed since the days of the
Inquisition. In present-day Canon Law she also decrees,
Canon 1405 (Sect.1) “It is the right of the Roman Pontiff himself alone to judge in cases
mentioned in can. 1401: 1. those who hold the highest civil office in a state;...
Canon 1401 “By proper and exclusive right the Church adjudicates: 1. cases concerning
spiritual matters or connected with the spiritual; 2. the violation of ecclesiastical laws and all
those cases in which there is a question of sin in respect to the determination of culpability
and the imposition of ecclesiastical penalties.”
The Holy Spirit’s admonition to believers is to be remembered as these decrees are certified into
law, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
In past times, kings and princes and nations were supposed to tremble at her decrees.
Woe to him who resisted! Subjects were released from their oaths of allegiance; whole states
were placed under interdict. By deception regarding the Gospel and, subsequently, by force the
Papacy has held her domain together. She has only external unity, as any one who has lived
within her system and studied her decrees and history knows. It is of signal importance to realize
that the Roman Catholic Church has no other way to maintain her life than by imposition of her
external laws, because she lacks the life giving power of the Holy Spirit and unity of the One
9 Galatians 5:1.

Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. She must legislate to exist, and she needs civil powers to enforce
her decrees. It is crucial to understand that suppression and control are her main stratagems,
although at the time such are not apparent. If control by her is to be avoided, her paradigm must
be understood.

The Lord’s Final Victory
Papal Rome has asked pardon for the wrongs of the Inquisition. During a Mass on March 12,
2000, Pope John Paul II asked pardon for wrongs committed in the past by members of the
church. It was not individual members of the church, but as Lord Acton observed, it was “the
Popes in particular that caused and instigated the sufferings and persecutions, involving
themselves in detail even in the minute ways that believers were to be tortured.”
We have seen how the institutionalized Papacy and the powers of darkness have conspired
against Christ’s kingdom and His people. It is most important to know what the Lord’s anointed
has to say about His kingdom and to know that all the powers on earth cannot challenge Him.
As Psalm 2 reminds us, the Messiah reigns and His Throne is not moved, nor has His plans
changed, whatever may be the turmoil and schemes against Him. While the enemies of the
Gospel are plotting and planning how to break His bands asunder and cast His cords from them,
He has already defeated their devices and He says to them, “yet have I set my king upon my holy
hill of Zion.”10 All events are in His hands. Who can stand against the Almighty?
Things are not as they seem. It looks as if the powers that designed and implemented the
Inquisition still govern the hearts of much of mankind at the present time. The Lord God’s fixed
decrees remain and all the schemes of hell cannot efface a single part of His purpose. He reigns
by inheritance, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”11 The Lord God owns Him, and
declares Him Lord and Head of the Church. The supreme government of the Church is His
responsibility and He will bring it to complete success including the punishment of His enemies.
It necessarily follows that though Papal Rome has been a rebel against the government of Christ
Jesus, the Lord God has nonetheless fulfilled His purpose through all the terrible evil that has
taken place. The truth is that through all the dreadful deeds of Papal Rome, the Sovereign Lord
Jesus Christ was entirely with His people, and He was in control of all events so that the faith
and witness of millions shone forth both in this world and before the throne of God; and will
shine forth throughout all the ages of the world to come.
From the beginning the Lord God purposed to glorify Himself “in the Church by Christ Jesus,
throughout all ages, world without end.”12 He has glorified Himself in the faith and suffering of
true believers throughout the 605 years of the Inquisition, as His Word proclaims, “the Lord
reigneth; let the people tremble.”13
The voice of the Lord thunders from the final chapters of the Bible and reverberates throughout
the world, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive
not of her plagues.”14 While the Papacy from the city of Rome continues to wax strong her final

condemnation is already written, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made
all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”15 The Lord God’s reserved wrath,
His punishing justice, and His enmity to sin, will be revealed to the entire world. The destruction
of Papal Rome will proceed from the glory of His power. “The same shall drink of the wine of
the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.”16 The
certainty of the final triumph should animate us in our efforts, and true believers in their
struggles.
The frequently quoted maxim that “peoples ignorant of history are destined to repeat it” is true.
Without the knowledge of the systematic murder of believers during the Inquisition, we can fail
to see that the true Gospel is a matter of life. True believers are in real danger of compromise
with the Church of Rome. As the Apostle Paul told believers, “All who live godly in Christ Jesus
will suffer persecution.”17 The victory of the faith and courage of believers over the severest
trials is repeatedly recorded in the pages of history. As the Lord Himself proclaimed, “Be not
afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. Also I say unto
you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the
angels of God.”18 Where there is true faith and love of the Lord, there is in the midst of all
afflictions a joy unspeakable and full of glory. God is the only Holy Father, the All Holy One.
His holiness is the distinguishing factor in all His essential characteristics. This is the reason
why we need to be in right standing before the one and only All Holy God on the terms He
prescribes. Turn to God in faith alone, in Christ alone, for the salvation that He alone gives, by
the conviction of the Holy Spirit, based on Christ’s death and resurrection for His own, and
believe on Him alone, “to the praise of the glory of his grace.”


Source : http://www.bereanbeacon.org/SMBe.pdf