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Top 10 Shameful Moments in Catholic History - Listverse

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by Flamehorse, June 8, 2011

This list is not a denunciation of Roman Catholicism, which dates back to Christ Himself. The Church today is a very honorable institution. 848 But there are a few moments in its history when it did not live up to its own high moral standards. This list constitutes an honest, unflinching look at some black moments in Roman Catholic history. Like 10 John Wycliffe 59
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In a nutshell, John Wycliffe presaged Martin Luther as a Protestant reformer. Wycliffe lived from c. 1328 to 31 December 1384, about a hundred years before Luther, and Wycliffe saw very much the same problems in the Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism itself was fine with him, but the Church was largely corrupt by his day. A lot of its practices will make entries farther down. Wycliffe wanted people to worship God and Jesus according to the Bible, not according to the popes and their bishops and priests. He saw that people are corruptible, while the Bible is not, and thus, there was no good sense in taking ones troubles to a priest, so the priest could make one feel better. Communication directly with God, via prayer, was not impossible, but required an understanding of the Bible, and the next entry outlines a specific grievance Wycliffe had with the Church on this subject. Wycliffe preached in England, and on the Continent, that priests should do nothing more than oversee church services and help the laypeople interpret the Bible for themselves. He argued based on various Bible passages that secular kings and queens had a divine right, direct from God Almighty, to be kings and queens. Thus, their rule should not be opposed by anyone, anymore than Gods rule should be opposed. The popes, however, routinely told Europes monarchs what was what in every field of activity. It didnt take long for Wycliffe to irritate a few Catholics, especially Pope Gregory XI. Their animosity toward each other may be without rival in the history of the Catholic Church. Gregory issued no less than five Papal Bulls attempting to shut Wycliffe up, but he would not be silent. Wycliffe went so far as to argue that the pope and the Antichrist were practically equivalent, and denounced the papal throne as the throne of Satan on Earth. He may have been the first to declare this now-popular idea (popular among Protestants). He was the first to translate the complete Bible into English, which did not endear him to the Catholic hierarchy. The Church did not attempt to catch and kill Wycliffe, ostensibly because it could not find him (he traveled extensively in England, France, and the Netherlands), or because it did not like the risk of invading England to get him. He died three days after suffering a stroke during Mass. 30 years later, the Council of Constance ended the three popes reign and elected Alexander V, who immediately denounced Wycliffe as a heretic, had as many of his books burned as could be found on the Continent and in England, excommunicated and consigned to everlasting flames from the moment of his death. In 1428, Pope Martin V had him dug up and burned at the stake. 9 Vernacular Bible

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Pope Damasus I commissioned Saint Jerome, in 382, to revise the Vetus Latina, which was the compendium of all biblical texts, translated into Latin. Jeromes product became known as versio vulgata, or common version. It was the translation used most often from then on throughout Western Europe, and from 400 to about 1530, the Latin Vulgate was the one and only Bible most Western Europeans ever encountered. It is, in fact, still the only official Bible of the Catholic Church. Nothing is wrong with any of this, because Jeromes translation is perfectly accurate and at its time of publication Latin was spoken throughout most of Europe. It is, more or less, the King James Version in Latin, since the King James translators used it as one of their primary guides. But the problem arose when the commoners throughout Europe told their priests, who told their bishops, who told the popes, that the commoners did not understand the first thing about Latin. It was not spoken except in church ceremonies, and thus, in order to learn it, the commoners had to get their priests to teach them. But the priests would not bother teaching them. Why? Because knowledge is power, and the Catholic Church had all of both. For about 1,000 years, the Bible remained well known only to the church officials, clergy of all orders, and an elect few well educated scholars. It was never counter to any Papal Bull for any person to translate the Bible into another language. However, anyone who intended to do so was strongly admonished by the Pope himself, with every archbishop, bishop and priest of the continent told not to translate the Bible into any language besides Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Greek or Latin. These three languages were almost dead at the time, meaning no one spoke them commonly. 8 Indulgences

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Indulgences are various degrees of the remission of punishments from sins that have already been forgiven. Indulgences are given, not sold, to anyone who performs a Christian act, especially doing a good deed for someone else, or for saying a prayer. This practice really isnt that un-biblical, in itself, but the problem is that people immediately see it as a Get Out of Jail Free card. Sin all you want, then say a Hail Mary, and youre good to go. It has never worked that way according to the Bible and official Catholic doctrine, and anyone who reads the Pauline Epistles will realize this. But certain Bishops of the Catholic Church saw indulgences as a very good way to get rich, and it worked magnificently. Threaten an ignorant person with eternal burning, and hell give you some money to feel safe again. It got ridiculously out of hand from about 500 until Martin Luther spoke against it in his 95 Theses, in 1517. One of the most notorious abusers of the practice was a man named Johann Tetzel, to whom is attributed this infamous couplet, As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs. These Bishops extorted people for years by horrifying them that theyre departed loved ones were currently frying in Purgatory, and would remain there for a very long time, unless their surviving loved ones paid the Church money. This money would atone for the dead persons sins, and they would then enter Heaven. Indulgences are not supposed to be sold. If they were, people with lots of money would be holier than thou art. Indulgences are still given in the Catholic Church some which remit part of the punishment owed for sin, and some which remit all. The most recent indulgences were granted in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI, for people who took part in pilgrimages to Lourdes. 7 Knights Templar

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The origin of the superstition of Friday the 13th began on Friday the 13th of October, 1307. King Phillip IV of Spain had borrowed a very large amount of money and personnel from the Templars, in order to wage war against the English, and when Pope Clement V sent him word that there were suspicions about the Christian nature of the Templar brotherhood, Phillip seized the opportunity, sending his men out to round up, arrest and imprison all the Templars in Spain. Phillip accused them of the most atrocious sins imaginable for that time, including apostasy (which means renouncing Christ), heresy, idolatry and even sodomy. Any one of these crimes warranted death back then, and the Templars were guilty of precisely none. But Phillip saw an extraordinary chance to eradicate the Templar order from his entire country and seize its incalculable wealth for himself. He bullied Clement V with political embargoes, and Clement acquiesced with an Inquisition convened to investigate these accusations. The investigation involved torturing the Templars via very perverted, horrifying methods, with the single proviso that no blood be spilled. If they died from the torture, it was deemed righteous punishment. But none of them did, according to the records we have. Most were put on the rack and stretched until their shoulders dislocated. Some had their testicles crushed in vises, which caused them to bleed profusely, of course, but internally. No blood was spilled. Some were shackled to the dungeon floors and had their feet roasted to the bone in furnaces. They, understandably, confessed to all sorts of horrible offenses to the Church, including the above mentioned, along with spitting on the cross. As soon as their tortures were over, the recanted their confessions. They may have been in possession of the Shroud of Turin at this time, which constituted idolatry. Clement issued a Papal Bull on 22 November, ordering that Templars be arrested and tortured all over Europe, and they were. Phillip IV is the most directly to blame, but the Catholic Church was officially and directly responsible in torturing and executing the Templar knights, knowing full well that they were innocent of all charges. Most of the Templars across Europe actually escaped or were acquitted, but those convicted, including the Grandmaster Jacques de Molay, were, to a man, burned at the stake, most after gruesome tortures. He is said to have screamed out of the flames that Phillip and Clement would both meet him before God, and that right soon. They both died within a year; Phillip had a stroke and fell off his horse while hunting; Clement died of natural causes, and a rumor persists that his body lay in state during a thunderstorm, when lightning struck the building and burned it to the ground. 6 Galileo

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The trial of Galileo Galilei is one of the most infamous and embarrassing moments in Catholic history. It still hasnt gone away. Galileo seems to have been always at odds with the Catholic Churchs hegemony on all education, even though he was good friends with Pope Urban VIII, and dedicated some of his works to him. But he discovered, via his own pet design for the refracting telescope, that Jupiter has moons, and Jupiters moons orbit Jupiter, NOT Earth. Know what that means? Orbits are based on gravity, not mankinds arrogance. This idea is called heliocentrism, which is, Mr. Sun is at the center of the solar system, and Earth, like everything else nearby, orbits Mr. Sun. Galileo was of the opinion that Nicholas Copernicus was right. The Earth is not the center. The Church didnt want to hear that. Galileo went to Rome to persuade the Church not to ban Copernicuss works, and instead of convincing them, the Church officials turned on Galileo and demanded that he desist with his ideas of Heliocentrism. He refused, but did back off for a few years. Urban VIII tried what he dared to help him, but the facts themselves were deemed vehemently heretical, and Galileo was finally brought before an Inquisition (more on those later), and forced under threat of excommunication and torture to abjure, curse, and detest heliocentrism. The legend goes that, seated in a chair in a bare room before the table of Inquisitors, Galileo sighed, put his hands behind his back, crossed his fingers and said something to the effect of, Fine. The Earth does not move around the Sun. Then, under his breath, he muttered, E pur si muove, which is, And yet it moves. How much of this is true cannot be ascertained for certain, but at one point he did let his Italian temper get the better of him (after several years of aggravation), when he stood and bellowed, The Bible tells you how to go to Heaven! It does NOT tell you how the heavens go! The Catholic Church did not lift its ban on heliocentrical thought until 1758. It was not until 1992, 350 years after his death, that a pope, John Paul II, formally apologized for the Church placing Galileo under house arrest for the last 9 years of his life, and denouncing his discoveries which, ironically, were also incorrect as Galileo taught that the Sun was the center of the universe not just our solar system. John Paul IIs successor, Benedict XVI, is on record as stating that the Catholic Churchs verdict against Galileo was rational and just and the revision of this verdict can be justified only on the grounds of what is politically opportune. Politically, mind you; not factually.

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5 Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc believed that God had called her to lead the French in kicking the English out of France once and for all. She instigated an uprising in 1429, and led a successful relief force to the besieged city of Orleans, where she aided Gilles de Rais (who, you may recall from another list, was also a savage serial killer), as well as Jean de Dunois and Jean de Brosse, in lifting the siege and routing the English oppressors. Long story short, Joan roused the political irritation of quite a few Catholic honchos in the area. But when they set about opening up a trial against her, they could find no legitimate evidence. But they opened the trial anyway, and also refused to allow her any legal counsel. This was patently against their own rules. During this farce, the inquisitors (French Bishops who favored the rule of the English), especially Jean LeMaitre, tried to trap Joan with her own words, just like the Pharisees and Sadducees tried to trap Jesus with his own words. And Jesus is probably quite proud of how Joan handled herself, because she calmly and carefully turned all their traps back against them. She left them no ground at all on which to base her execution, so of course, they killed her anyway. They hated her and wanted to kill her. In the end, they had to lie. Joan of Arc was executed for heresy, not because she claimed to hear the voice of God, not because she defied and killed the English, but because she was said to have worn a mans clothing while in prison. This was also forbidden, and thus punishable by being burned at the stake. She requested that her last meal be Holy Communion. The Church officials refused, in essence trying everything they could to consign her to Hell. It was even discovered after her death that she had never worn a mans clothing. Her case was successfully appealed 25 years later, and she was exonerated by the Pope at
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the behest of St Joans mother. Nevertheless, the Church did not canonize her until 16 May, 1920, five hundred years after she was killed. 4 Jan Hus

Along with the next entry, this is one of the two most appalling incidents of criminal cowardice in the history of the Catholic Church. Jan Hus (c. 1369 6 July 1415) was a Czech priest and Catholic reformer who could not stand what he saw as various corruptions rife throughout the Roman Catholic Church. It would take too long to explain every detail of his arguments with the Church, but they can all be simplified to his view that the priests, bishops, archbishops and popes were immoral and given to sin, just as any other human. Thus, any rule the Church established was corrupt, because 100% of the rules necessary for Christian living and salvation had already been written by God in the Bible. He made no secret of his disdain and outright antagonism for the Church in his Prague pulpit. He was strongly influenced by #10, and when #10 died a peaceful death, Hus carried on in his place. He especially wanted the papal schism to end. There were two popes at the time, Gregory XII and Benedict XIII. In 1409, Alexander V was elected to appease both sides, but this backfired. Hus saw it was one more proof that the Church was a human institution, and no longer divine. In 1411, indulgences received a sudden surge of popularity following the death of Pragues Archbishop, Zbynek Zajic, when Antipope John XXIII advocated indulgences to insure that all those under his bishopric would be cleaned of the sin of following Hus. Hus sternly preached against indulgences. So, in 1415, the Church convened the Council of Constance to put an end to the papal schism, but also to put an end to Hus. They tricked him into coming to the Council under a letter of indemnity, which meant they promised to do no harm at all to him. All they wanted was to talk. While he was there, the Church started the rumor that he was trying to escape the city of Constance (Konstanz). He was not trying to escape, because he wrote his will before leaving Prague. He knew they might try to kill him, and they did, arresting, trying and imprisoning him for heresy. He was held in an underground dungeon, fed very little, contracting the flu and possibly pneumonia. He was ordered to recant his teachings, and he refused, stating that he stood firmly and solely on the Bible, that for the Church to demand his recantation of the Bible was the same as demanding Gods genuflection to the Roman Catholic Church. This infuriated the Church officials, who promptly sentenced him to death. They refused him the Last Rites and burned him at the stake. 3 William Tyndale

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Tyndale dedicated his life to translating the Bible into vernacular English, so the laypeople of England could read it for themselves. This was not expressly against the rules, as mentioned in entry #9, but Tyndale could not get anyone in the Catholic Church to help him with room and board. Everyone was uncomfortable with the Bible being readily accessible to the commoners, because how could the Church then keep power? Not to be deterred, Tyndale went into hiding in Belgium and Germany, evading capture while he translated the New Testament, finishing it in 1525. It was printed en masse and smuggled all over Europe, especially into England, where the Catholics in charge burned a number of them in public. Tyndale also wrote fearlessly against the divorce of Henry VIII, calling it anti-Scriptural, and infuriating the king. Tyndale finished translating the Old Testament in 1530. He was finally caught after some help from a backstabbing friend named Henry Phillips, charged with heresy for no other reason than translating the Bible into English, and strangled, then burned at the stake, on 6 October 1536, in Vilvoorde, outside Brussels. The Catholic Church has never apologized. All subsequent English Bibles, including the King James have borrowed extensively from Tyndales Bible. 2 Inquisitions

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Because they spanned the entire latter half of the Middle Ages, lasting into the 1800s, the Inquisitions themselves deserve their own entry. Their typically accepted dates are from the 1100s to 1808. The Inquisition still exists today, but torture and execution are no longer allowed. The word itself simply denotes an investigation into possible heresy. For those seven centuries or so, anyone who roused the anger or suspicion of the Roman Catholic Church was in very real danger of the arrival of Inquisitors, whose job was to root out and purge the Christian civilized world of heresy and crimes against God. Torture was not only defended as a means to gain a confession; the Church encouraged it. Aside from the specific cases mentioned in other entries, it must not be forgotten that the Catholic Church routinely arrested and tortured Jews, Muslims, Waldensianism (Christian), Hussitism (Christian) and numerous other religions and religious sects. These people were given prior warning to vacate the given area (a pogrom), after which anyone found in the area was arrested and given an ultimatum: convert to Christianity or be executed. Anyone who foolishly refused was tortured until he or she did convert, and the Inquisition allowed no exemptions for anyone, men, women, children, the elderly or the disabled. These tortures were lurid beyond belief, including branding, the rack, hanging by the toes or thumbs, toe crushing, bone breaking, simple beatings, foot roasting, and blinding by red-hot pokers. After such tortures, the condemned was almost always strangled, then burned at the stake. For seven centuries, the Catholic Church was all powerful, even terrifying monarchs, and the Inquisition held absolute sway by the most brutal methods imaginable. Interestingly the office of the Inquisition still exists today under the name Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 1 Medieval Witch Hunts

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This travesty gets its own entry for several reasons. The so-called witches were rounded up and slaughtered for centuries throughout Europe. Casualty numbers vary drastically because records were not well kept, but the average total is anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 dead, just in the period of c. 1480 to c. 1750. The hunts had been perpetrated for centuries before, and they were carried out for one or both of two reasons: fear and personal animosity. If a particular person irritated someone, the latter could accuse the former of witchcraft, and the Catholic Church showed up like a bloodhound. Or a nation or local government could suddenly become afraid of the influence of the Antichrist and take care of the matter with the Churchs blessing. It was established doctrine that witches were not witches by their own volition, but by Satans, and so burning them at the stake would purify them by pain so they could enter Heaven. The Church actually believed, and led the populace to believe, that it was doing witches a favor by torturing them and burning them to death. The methods by which to prove a witch were ludicrous, to state the obvious: a mole or birthmark was deemed proof of trafficking with the Devil; uttering blasphemy (and back then it was nearly impossible to open your mouth without offending the Church); denouncement by another witch (and since denouncing another passed the blame, the accused could save himself this way); to be afraid during interrogation; and the most infamous of all, anyone who could swim was most assuredly a witch, since only the Devil could teach someone to conquer water. Tortures were not always overseen by the Church itself, and thus, the rule of not shedding blood was ignored in these instances. So the tortures became much, much worse: flogging, skinning alive, castration by red-hot pincers, disemboweling, drawing and quartering, head crushing, tooth extraction, de-nailing. Death, if not by torture, was always via burning at the stake. Another very serious mistake the Church made in pursuing and slaughtering people because of the slightest hint of heresy is that in so doing, it also ordered that all witches familiars be hunted down, killed and burned. These familiars were pets that witches were believed to keep, whether frogs, or owls, or rats or especially cats. From the 1100s until the late 1300s, cats were slaughtered wholesale all over Europe. When the fleas bearing bubonic plague rode on the backs of rats from the Black Sea area and Western Asia into Italy and Western Europe, there were no cats to check the rats spread. The Black Death of c. 1340 to c. 1355 spread so well, in large part, because the rats multiplied out of control. The Plague finally dwindled away because the people were too busy dying to kill cats, and the cats repopulated Europe and brought the rats back down. It should be noted that witch hunts were not unique to the Catholic Church, as all of the protestant nations in Europe also partook of this cruel abuse. Alas, no one was immune from guilt.
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d i s q u s _ tg 5 p l VMn T2

3 months ago

Not a single citing or source was mentioned in this article or in any of the negative comments below. This complete lack of informed, educated, intellectual comments supported by authoritative sources is shameful. To assume that what you read is true because you want it to be the truth is profoundly ignorant. Too many anti-Catholic individuals claim to be advocates of the scientific method, yet fail to honor it by providing reliable sources. In addition, to leave a comment such as "No, you're wrong" is both unintelligent and cowardly. Any individual who truly advocates science, any true intellectual, should be pleased to enter into an organized, respectful discussion on any matter which contradicts his views. If an individual is not prepared to defend his position in a rational and respectful manner, he has no place in true intellectual discussion, no matter what the subject may be.
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Ju l i a n

2 years ago

"Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ" - St Jerome There is nothing in Catholicism that contradicts the Bible but there are things in Catholicism that are not explicitly stated in the Bible. Where in the Bible is Sola Scriptura? Christ did not establish the Bible, he established a Church that had the authority to create the Biblical canon. The Bible was never meant to be the be all end all of Chrisitianity, the Magisterium of the Church and Sacred Tradition had authority as well. It is just that once the protestants rejected the church, that is the only thing they had left. The Bible was not promoted by the church for individual reading in the early times because of fear people would misinterpret it and take it out of context, which of course the protestants have visibly demonstrated, with over 40,000 denominations and all sorts of heretical beliefs supposedly based on the Bible. "To be deep in history is to cease to be protestant" - John Newman
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> Julian

5 days ago

Im not trying to argue Protestant or Catholic here, but I think theres some confusion. Sola Scriptura does not mean that people are only to use scripture and interpret the Bible individually. Sola Scriptura is to learn how to read and interpret what the original author was trying to say, with the help of church authority or teachers. Yet- by that definition, it does mean that the church authority better be measuring up to what the word of God says. I think we can agree, since the Bible is the actual Word of God to us, it is a very unique authority, and since it comes from God, the greatest of all. Yet it is concerning that the Catholic Church does not fully encourage or teach people to study Scripture and apply it to their lives. In fact, the Bible is seen as an equal to tradition and the Church. This, friends, cannot be true. How can Christ himself be made equal with the Church or the traditions that uphold him? Also, as you have said, it is completely ridiculous and terrible to have so many denominations supposedly based upon the Bible. There will always be people who will try to sway interpretation to what is comfortable, not what is correct. And, you will note, that according to history and fact, even the Catholic church falls into that category. Which is why, the spirit of Sola Scriptura, that we are trying to find the AUTHORs original interpretation, not our own, is so important. It may interest you to know that, yes, we realize that in rejecting the church we do miss some of the things that the church did have to offer and some of their better points. However based on the above events, we are forced to wonder, what should Luther have done? After recieving word that his concerns were invalid and he should be quiet, should he have kept silent or continued to be called a heritic and eventually be banished anyway? Should he have allowed people to believe that their money could actually buy people into heaven? Considering the evil that was occuring, he could not have done anything less than what he did. And since the people we were supposed to trust the most to teach us truth had now betrayed us, we turn to the Word of God, which cannot be wrong. The events above are not just the history of Catholism but the history of Christianity. I am horrified that men of God, who should have known better, who should have been fighting for love and justice, used their God given gifts and talents for hate and power. May God forgive us all.
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Bi b l e -re a d e r

> Julian

6 days ago

The fact that Catholic Church had to establish the Catholic Catechism is a blatant proof that
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they are creating their own teachings and are separating from the scriptures. And average person should be able to realize this. And actually, the Catholic Church tramples almost half of the teachings of Jesus, or maybe more. Its just that you don't read the Bible or you refuse to understand it, that's why you are clueless to the teachings of our Lord.
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s yke

2 years ago

catholic church here strongly opposes law encouraging birth control intended for lowering the already high birth rates in our country. here in phil catholic church earns a lot, as in a lot lot. from birth to death the poor people pay. birth, masses, wedding, fiestas and masses again for the dead to end asap the deads' souls' stay in purgatory. salvation for the rich, really. the poor got nothing.
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Mi ch

> syke

2 months ago

Maybe you should check out what CRS, CMMB, St. Vincents & countless others have been doing for more than a century. Not to mention the schools & orphages that were run by the Catholic Church the first half of the last century & before. Hmmm, & did I mention all the labor laws that were reformed in part by the heip of the Catholic Church. I think Mother Theresa would beg to differ with you.
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as hjgas d

> Mich
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25 days ago Share

schools which are priced for the rich and famous, you mean?

Ronk

11 months ago

It's no secret that among the billions of people who have been Catholics in the past 2000 years, there have been plenty of utter blackguards, but many of the statements made here are nonsense. In fact many of them are contradicted by your articles on the myths about the Catholic Church, the myths about the Middle ages etc.
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Jo fEa ts Th e Wo rl d

3 months ago

its the people of the church, not the religion's fault. they have done many wrongful things and killed many people during those times but it is them who is to be condemned. dont insult our religion because of the said things, our religion is still the original religion personally founded by god himself not by some priest or king who just want to have their own collections and benefits by founding their so called new religion that has no intervention from god. as i read the comments many demons are indeed writing their comments in their. just repent, for all the things that those men have done in the name of the church will be forgiven by the name of christ. i repeat, the wrong is the men of the church not the religion.
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yo u d o n tkn o w

> JofEatsTheWorld
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3 months ago

Catholic is the wrong religion, satan founded it http://www.redicecreations.com...


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C a rl o s 2 years ago listverse.com/2011/06/08/top-10-shameful-moments-in-catholic-history/

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C a rl o s

2 years ago

Top 10 Shameful Moments in Catholic History - Listverse

Since when did Listverse became an outlet for bashing Catholics? I haven't seen a single list bashing Protestants, Jews or Muslims. You will have to remember that the Catholic Church is run by humans, and humans make mistakes. Guess, I'll have to stop visiting Listverse altogether.
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Al n a s i

> Carlos

2 years ago Share

Ummm...see number 4: Jan Hus.

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ch e zi rre

> Carlos

2 years ago

the church is an institution established by God, Jesus Christ himself. he wont let his people keep sinning and sinning. and not all people are his people. the catholic church has had sooo many controversial stories even you would learn to doubt the catholic church if you would just open your eyes. these are historical facts and not just any other fairytale you see on tv or read in preschool books. i cant blame you though. reading is a whole lot different from really experiencing or witnessing.
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yo u d o n tkn o w

> chezirre
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3 months ago

Catholic is not the right religion, satan founded it http://www.redicecreations.com...


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cb m vl 2 7

23 days ago

Why do people hate the Catholic Church, the Church committed no crime, the people in it did, people make mistakes, you cant tell me that a Preacher in a Protestant Church has never made a mistake or committed a terrible crime. Everybody makes mistakes, why pin it on the Catholic Church? The "universal" church. Matthew 16:17-19 states: Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. The Pope is the senior pastor of 1.1 billion Catholic Christians, the direct successor of Simon Peter. 1.1 BILLION people!!!!!! That is more people than all other Christian denominations in the United States Combined!!!!! So ya, people in the past and present messed up but think of that compared to all the other Catholics in the world. And why do we care, God will judge them the way he deems necessary. And if people in the Catholic Church messed up obviously people in other Christian denominations mess up to, we are just humans, it is in our nature and can be proved in history and the present. So why don't you look at your religion and what they've done wrong before you start putting other people's religions down.... And yes if your wondering I am a Catholic and am proud to be one!!
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b e n a year ago listverse.com/2011/06/08/top-10-shameful-moments-in-catholic-history/

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Top 10 Shameful Moments in Catholic History - Listverse

ben

a year ago

Great work Flamehorse. In case you will be doing a 2 edition of your excellent list, you might like to see the Dec 2011 edition of National Geograhic, which features the King James bible. It shows the KJV as sourcing many translations but not the vulgate. Also page 79 of bart ehrman's book "misquoting jesus" says that the kjv was based on the 1516 erasmus version. Looking forward to seeing more of your ace work. cheers, ben
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KXG

9 months ago

Ahhhh, The Catholic Church. The Papacy. The Holy See. The biggest bunch of bullsh*t slinging, altar boy diddling, peasant swindling, hypocritical, snake-oil salesmen on the fact of the planet. They've kept the masses ignorant and sedated on their "do as i say, not as i do" conga line, defrauded millions, murdered more people than any tea-pot dictator, burned their own holy books, and kept their old, white and rich good ole boys club better and tighter than any KKK member's wildest wet dream. If the funny hats and the little boy diddling are the finest culmination of over 1000 years of "God's will" can muster I'm so glad I'm a dirty heathen.
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Jo fEa ts Th e Wo rl d

> KXG

3 months ago

i know these things that the article wrote for a long time dude. but still, i love my religion and i learned accept that our history is imperfect. dont be so judgmental
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ItK
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> JofEatsTheWorld

3 months ago

So, We shouldn't judge an origination by it's actions, but by it's teachings?

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cb m vl 2 7

> ItK

23 days ago

Not necessarily. But people in other religions have messed up too, not just in the Catholic Church. People make mistakes, its human nature. Before you put down somebody else's religion because of its history why don't you check out your own religions history because I can guarantee there are shameful moments in it.
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ItK

> cbmvl27

22 days ago

I have no religion, But I was raised a catholic, and it's hard not to judge something while you grow up hearing one thing coming from their mouths, and seeing them do quite the opposite, and learn of what they have already done.
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a tp m o l l o y

9 months ago

The Church today is a very honorable institution . You Think ?? There is a lot of buggered choirboys who might disagree with you
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Mi ch

> atpmolloy

2 months ago

The facts are, that the percentage of pedophiles in the Catholic Church are not any higher then the percentage in the general population. This is in no way justifying these horrific crimes against humanity, but the unfortunate truth is that some people enter the vocations of the church because they are running away from themselves and or hiding who they really are. Vocations are called by
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they are running away from themselves and or hiding who they really are. Vocations are called by God, not something to hide in. Unfortuantely the church was not always able to discern who these individuals were until it was too late. The same is true for the general population. These individuals go to great lengths to deceive, & none more so then those hiding behind God. As far as today, the Catholic Church takes extreme measures to protect children. Measures that far exceed those of the general populace.
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Top 10 Shameful Moments in Catholic History - Listverse

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D o u g l a s Ba th

> Mich

3 days ago

"Unfortuantely the church was not always able to discern who these individuals were until it was too late." ..... Except even when they knew, church leaders shuffled the child molestors around to a new location to let them do the same thing again. There is no defense for that. It's aiding and abetting in child molestation.
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Yo u N e e d To Gro w U p

a year ago

"The Plague finally dwindled away because the people were too busy dying to kill cats, and the cats repopulated Europe and brought the rats back down."

In a word, bullshit.
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F* ckYo u Je s u s
0

a year ago Share

stupid religion!!!., I'm glad I'm not catholic.., jesus was asshole, the pope is idiot!!!
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d i s q u s _ tg 5 p l VMn T2

> F*ckYouJesus

3 months ago

This "stupid religion" is responsible for founding the principles of Western culture, which you are enjoying the fruits of today.
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Bo b .
0

2 years ago Reply Share

Uh..... Raping children and protecting people that do it?

Mi ch

> Bob.

2 months ago

I will reply. The facts are, that the percentage of pedophiles in the Catholic Church are not any higher then the percentage in the general population. This is in no way justifying these horrific crimes against humanity, but the unfortunate truth is that some people enter the vocations of the church because they are running away from themselves and or hiding who they really are. Vocations are called by God, not something to hide in. Unfortuantely the church was not always able to discern who these individuals were until it was too late. The same is true for the general population. These individuals go to great lengths to deceive, & none more so then those hiding behind God. As far as today, the Catholic Church takes extreme measures to protect children. Measures that far exceed those of the general populace.
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annie

a year ago

hateful Prottie lies-heretics will always be blind to the truth, because their twisted revisionist history
listverse.com/2011/06/08/top-10-shameful-moments-in-catholic-history/

reads like an enquirer rag!!

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Top 10 Shameful Moments in Catholic History - Listverse

reads like an enquirer rag!!


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Aj e

5 days ago

I appreciate that the author mentioned how protestants were also to blame for some crimes, or that they were misinformed. It was non-biased in that respect. As to the Catholic comments here... My God, stop trying to defend yourselves. It happened. We have proofs that it happened. You cannot deny it happened. And you trying to downplay its occurance or the role that the Church had is disgusting. It would be much better to hear a humble apology or to hear, Despite our past, we are determined to rise from the ashes, rather than denial.
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Nobody

6 days ago

No sources provided. Hmmm... But I am actually familiar with some of the facts here. I know that Joan of Arc was killed by the RC church but was later canonized as saint. I also know about the Inquisition of the RC Church and why they could not abolish it. As for the witch hunt, I know the church has something to do with it but I don't remember what. But now I know. :)
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Ju s t re a d th e b i b l e

a month ago

Indeed "Ignorance of scripture is is ignorance of Christ" St Jerome. Without actually reading the bible, how can you know God? Try reading 1 Corr 5:12-13 (Douray--Rei s version): "For what have I to do to judge them that are without? Do not you judge them that are within? For them that are without, God will judge. Put away the evil one from among yourselves."
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Ke vi n

a month ago

The author here is a ignorant moron. The Inquisition ONLY has jurisdiction over Catholics for a start. There are so many lies and flat out bullshit here its unbelievable.
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Am a n d a C Ow e n s

2 months ago

What about the Catholic priests in the Vatican who sheltered Nazi war criminals and arranged safe passage out of Europe using forged Red Cross documents?
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th e o n e
0

3 months ago Reply Share

stupid fucking catholics


l i te s p 3 3 d

3 months ago

This is just a few what about the genocide of the Gnostics, what about being supporters of Nazi Germany, what about the recent hundreds of thousands of child molestation and rape. Only 10. All religions are bad but Catholicism must be in contention for the number 1 spot.
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aib

7 months ago

By no means am I an expert...but I'm pretty sure the plague didn't dwindle out because people were too busy dying to kill cats...
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Top 10 Shameful Moments in Catholic History - Listverse

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Ja m e s McVe i g h

8 months ago

Why are the current evils of the Catholic Church not mentioned. I rather think that an institutional protection racket for paedophiles and child torturers deserves criticism.
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Mi ch

> James McVeigh

2 months ago

As for current, I assume you consider Mother Theresa, & others in the Catholic Church like her, & organizaions such as CRS & CMMB evil? The combination of the above mentioned, have saved staggering numbers of childrens' lives. The facts are that the percentage of pedophiles in the Catholic Church are not any higher then the percentage in the general population. This is in no way is justifying these horrific crimes against humanity but the unfortunate truth is that some people enter the vocations of the church because they are running away from themselves and or hiding who they really are. Vocations are called by God, not something to hide in. Unfortuantely the church was not always able to discern who these individuals were until it was too late. The same is true for the general population. These individuals go to great lengths to deceive, & none more so then those hiding behind God. As far as today, the Catholic Church takes extreme measures to protect children. Measures that far exceed those of the general populace.
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Bo b Fa b e r
0

8 months ago Share

Very interesting site. First time visited.

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D a n te

9 months ago

When Christianity ruled Europe, we lived in an era, called "Dark Ages". Thanks God, Christianity is nothing but a ceremonial jokes now.
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Mi ch

> Dante

2 months ago

The Christian Church is not a 'joke' unless you consider CRS, CMMB, The Salvation Army, 'Feed the Children', and so many countless others organizations like them & the billions of people world wide who support them a joke? These organizations have helped millions world wide with food, water, medical, education, disaster relief, LIFE, etc. for more than a century. Since when is it a 'joke' to follow the teachings of Jesus & help your fellow man?
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C ra i g Ma cl e o d

10 months ago

And a point everyone doesn't understand (even wikipedia apparently) is that Galileo was wrong. He believed the sun was the centre of the UNIVERSE, not the solar system.
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C ra i g

10 months ago

This list is so disappointing, I've read so many brilliant articles on this site I suppose the standard had to slip at some point. Almost all of these are simply incorrect or the result of the reimagining of Catholic history that occurred in the 19th/20th. What a letdown.
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R o n k 11 months ago listverse.com/2011/06/08/top-10-shameful-moments-in-catholic-history/

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Ronk

11 months ago

For example: The Church never either formally or informally prvented or dissuaded anyone from writing the Bible in any language. On the contrary, as soon as a country converted to Christianity (which in thiose days meant the same as Catholicism) Bibles were written in that language (often the Church actually invented a written form of that language in order to write the Bible.) In the case of Engllish Bibles they were wriitten 600 years before Wycliff was born. Wycliff was condemned bot for producing a Bible in Enmglish (which he diid not, not a complekte one anyway) but for his numerous dangerous errors which were nothing to do with Bible translation and he had very little in common with the protestantism which was invented 200 years later . About the only thing he had in common with protestants is that they were both anti-Catholic. Witch burning was neither a Catholic phenomenon nor a Middle ages one. Large scale witch huntuing and witch burning began only after the midle ages ended and was far more common in protestant cpountries than elsewhere. The reason being that the Catholic inquisitions (the fairest and most humane courts in the world up until that time) saved accused "witches" by guaranteeing a fair trial and due legal process depending on actual evidence not just mob accusations or score settling by enemies. Catholic inquisitions NEVER targeted Jews, Moslems, or any other non-Christian who by definition were outtside of its jurisdiction. The Inquisition's role was to investigate alleged incorrect beliefs and practices by Christians. The Galileo item is almost completely myth. For example it was not Galileo who said the famous quote "The Bible tells men the way to go to Heaven, not the way the Heavens go" was not by Galileo but by a Roman Cardinal before Galileo was even born.
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yo u d o n tkn o w

> Ronk

3 months ago

Your wrong, sorry

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d i s q u s _ tg 5 p l VMn T2

> youdontknow

3 months ago

This isn't a sound argument.

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Pro f. Ge o rg e Me n a ch e ry

a year ago

May I congratulate flamehorse on presenting some of the best pictures - and thoughts - of some of the world's greatest thinkers, humanists, and reformers. I wish a list of the most glorious momen ts of Catholicism also were given alongside in the same incomparable style and format. Keep it up!
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H e d b a n g r1 4 1
0

a year ago Share

Paedophile priests?
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