Has the Catholic Church ever formally apologized for the Crusades/Inquisition?

The Inquisition was the Church's response to unfair trials of accused heretics. They were accused of heresy by the state and would often receive unfair trials by the state. The Inquisition brought people who knew theology and were better able to determine if the crime of heresy had actually been committed.

Many thousand's of lives were saved because of the Inquisition. And, there were even prisoners in the state prisons that would purposely blaspheme in order to get sent to the Inquisition prison where they were better treated. In fact the Spanish Inquisition was hailed as the most humane court system in the world.

Yes, there were a few individuals who abused others and they were punished. And yes the Church has apologized for the sins of those who abused. The Inquisition did not torture or execute others for the most part.

There were some exceptions, where some torture was used, like this one fellow who's name slips my memory. And he was punished by the Church. But, it was the state that was responsible for torture, punishment and sentencing of capital crimes.

If a person was found to be guilty of heresy they were handed over to the state court since heresy was a capital crime by the state, for them to try and sentence in their own courts. That is hard for us to imagine that heresy would be a capital crime but you have to realize what things were like back then. People took their religion very seriously and someone who was teaching heresy was thought to be very dangerous by the people.

The people took it upon themselves to try and punish them. The state was interested in also getting rid of people who were not loyal to the king. And, if you were not loyal in doctrine then you could not be trusted to be loyal to the king.

The Church on the other hand saw the accused as a lost sheep who's responsibility it was to bring back into the fold. Life was short back then. People died of the black plague and other illnesses.

Life span was in the 30s if you were lucky. And, I think that whatever grave crimes that individuals did commit back then and did not repent of they are already receiving their punishment for in the next life. It's not like the crimes that a few individuals committed 500 years ago have any bearing on us today.

It's not like we are guilty of the same crimes as those 500 years ago because we happen to go to the same Church. Judas betrayed Jesus and sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. Does that mean all of us bear Judas' guilt?

The Church is made up of God's people who forgive and are forgiven, not of people that hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness. Here is an article on the real Inquisition by historian Thomas F. Madden http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/ma... God Bless.

Yes, over and again. I still am waiting to hear an apology from islamists for the murders and warfare they carried on against the Catholic Church for 450 years before the Catholic Church started fighting back militarily. I would also love to hear an apology for the current violence by islamists.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.