Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Pope Ratzinger To Canonize Tomás de Torquemada, His Predecessor as Inquisitor General?

According to a highly placed source who can see the Vatican from his front porch, Pope Benedict XVI plans to extend his "big tent" reconciliation reunion tour by launching the canonization process for Tomás de Torquemada, the 15th century Inquisitor General.

Last week, the pope reversed the excommunication of four bishops of the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X, who were consecrated without papal consent in 1988, including British Bishop Richard Williamson, who has denied the Holocaust occurred and speculated that only 300,000 Jews were killed during the Nazi regime, not six million.

According to the source, it occurred to the pope that if Pope Pius XII, referred to by historians as "Hitler's Pope," is to be canonized and a Holocaust-denying bishop can be reinstated, why not reach back in history and honor the efforts of Torquemada by making him a saint?

"Sure, Torquemada was instrumental in the Alhambra Decree, which expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492. But he only burned a few thousand heretics, and that was to save their souls." the source said. "If the Holocaust maybe didn't happen, what's a little Inquisition here or there?"

And if George W. Bush can sum up his presidency by saying he was "disappointed" that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, the pope can be disappointed that the Inquisition has received bad press through the centuries, the source said.

The current pope, the former Cardinal Ratzinger, previously served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a successor office of the Inquisition.

5 comments:

  1. hilarious!! welcome to blogosphere - of course the big question is WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG! call me if you have any questions about blogger, I might not be able to answer them but I always love talking with you!!!!!

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  3. It is amazing how far the feather has fallen since Pope John Paul II...

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  4. It's a fair point, Don. While he's at it, why not canonize Henry VIII, too? Talk about a magnanimous gesture of reconciliation.

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  5. A bit late to this party, but I just found your blog. Obviously the worst thing is Williamson's denial & (for lack of a more appropriate & damning word)"minimization." But as your blog suggests: how can any sane (& supposedly spiritual person talk about "only" killing 300,000 people?

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