Demonic actions in the history of the Roman church

Discussion in 'Church History' started by Celtic1, Dec 27, 2012.

  1. Celtic1

    Celtic1 Well-Known Member

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    What would you call a "church" that could do the following? Rather than call it the "Church Catholic", I would call it a tool of Satan and hell.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldensians

    "In January 1655 the Duke of Savoy commanded the Waldensians to attend Mass or remove to the upper valleys of their homeland, giving them twenty days in which to sell their lands. Being in the midst of winter, the order, of course, was intended to persuade the Vaudois to choose the former; however, the bulk of the populace instead chose the latter, abandoning their homes and lands in the lower valleys and removing to the upper valleys. It was written that these targets of persecution, old men, women, little children and the sick "waded through the icy waters, climbed the frozen peaks, and at length reached the homes of their impoverished brethren of the upper Valleys, where they were warmly received."

    "By mid-April, when it became clear that the Duke's efforts to force the Vaudois to conform to Catholicism had failed, he tried another approach. Under the guise of false reports of Vaudois uprisings, the Duke sent troops into the upper valleys to quell the local populace. He required that the local populace quarter the troops in their homes, which the local populace complied with. But the quartering order was a ruse to allow the troops easy access to the populace. On 24 April 1655, at 4 a.m., the signal was given for a general massacre."


    AnnaCharboniereTortured.jpg
    Print illustrating the 1655 massacre in La Torre, from Samuel Morelands "History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valleys of Piemont" published in London in 1658.​


    "The Catholic forces did not simply slaughter the inhabitants. They are reported to have unleashed an unprovoked campaign of looting, rape, torture, and murder. According to one report by a Peter Liegé:

    "Little children were torn from the arms of their mothers, clasped by their tiny feet, and their heads dashed against the rocks; or were held between two soldiers and their quivering limbs torn up by main force. Their mangled bodies were then thrown on the highways or fields, to be devoured by beasts. The sick and the aged were burned alive in their dwellings. Some had their hands and arms and legs lopped off, and fire applied to the severed parts to staunch the bleeding and prolong their suffering. Some were flayed alive, some were roasted alive, some disemboweled; or tied to trees in their own orchards, and their hearts cut out. Some were horribly mutilated, and of others the brains were boiled and eaten by these cannibals. Some were fastened down into the furrows of their own fields, and ploughed into the soil as men plough manure into it. Others were buried alive. Fathers were marched to death with the heads of their sons suspended round their necks. Parents were compelled to look on while their children were first outraged [raped], then massacred, before being themselves permitted to die."[25]

    This massacre became known as the Piedmont Easter. An estimate of some 1,700 Waldensians were slaughtered; the massacre was so brutal it aroused indignation throughout Europe. Protestant rulers in northern Europe offered sanctuary to the remaining Waldensians. Oliver Cromwell, then ruler in England, began petitioning on behalf of the Waldensians, writing letters, raising contributions, calling a general fast in England and threatening to send military forces to the rescue. (The massacre prompted John Milton's famous poem on the Waldenses, "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont".)[26] Swiss and Dutch Calvinists set up an 'underground railroad' to bring many of the survivors north to Switzerland and even as far as the Dutch Republic, where the councillors of the city of Amsterdam chartered three ships to take some 167 Waldensians to their City Colony in the New World (Delaware) on Christmas Day 1656.[27] Those that stayed behind in France and the Piedmont formed a guerilla resistance movement led by a farmer, Josué Janavel, which lasted into the 1660s."
     
  2. historyb

    historyb Active Member

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    I would not say that is the whole Church and not blame them for such stupidity as the Duke displayed just like I would not say it was the whole Protestant Church when some did despicable things also.
     
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  3. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    HistoryB is right. An evil nobleman and degenerate bishops who do not condemn and censure him are not "the church". The Roman Church is more importantly anti-Christ for the doctrinal heresies & novelties - which it compels all its members to believe on pain of Hell - not for its immoral actions, in my opinion. Opposition to perceived Donatism can be taken too far, of course.
     
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