Vatican opens Inquisition archives

Nov. 20, 2004, 6:55PM
Vatican opens its Inquisition archives for study
By PHILIP PULLELLA
Reuters News Service

CHURCH JUSTICE
• Beginning: Pope Gregory IX created the Inquisition in 1233 to curb heresy, but civil authorities took over prosecutions.
• Ending: It reached a peak in the 16th century to counter the Reformation.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is opening up more of its archives on the Inquisition as part of unprecedented study of the effect the Roman Catholic Church's attempt to control religious belief had on medieval and modern history.

The new project, announced last week, will see the Holy See cooperate with Italy's Culture Ministry and universities to catalogue thousands of documents about the Inquisition.

"Such a vast project has never been attempted before and it will be of great importance to respond to the new trends in international research of the control of religious ideas in medieval and modern Europe," a Vatican statement said.

Last week's Vatican statement said the project would catalogue documents concerning both the Roman Inquisition and the Spanish Inquisition.

The Vatican sponsored an academic symposium six years ago, and in 2000 Pope John Paul asked forgiveness "for errors committed in the service of truth through use of methods that had nothing to do with the Gospel."

One of the best-known victims was the astronomer Galileo, condemned for claiming Earth revolved around the sun. He was rehabilitated under John Paul in 1992.

But the new project appears aimed at studying what the pope has called "wounds to the collective memory" that remained open for centuries.

The Spanish Inquisition, founded in 1478, led to the expulsion of the country's Moors (Muslims) and Jews in 1492. It was one of Europe's most traumatic events.