Francis I: Why only Roman Catholics Apologize of Historic crimes of intolerance?

The Peace of God to all that belong to the light,
Dear Readers,

In preparation to a Historic trip to Sweden, in the 500 years anniversary of the Protestant reformation, the Pope H.H. Francis I is making a historic apologize toward Protestantism for any crime that Catholics might committed not only against them but against any other Christian denominations.

Pope Francis I ask forgiveness and Apologizes for crimes against Protestants


We all know that it is a signal of high spiritual culture to understand the importance of repentance and also to accept errors and apologize to whoever has been affected by it, moreover this is a fundamental principle in the core of Jesus Christ teachings, however it comes to my attention to see that in modern History only the Roman Catholic Church use to apologize, and many of the worst religious crimes of History were not committed by Catholics.

Why the Orthodox Jewish leaders and the Pagan people never have apologized for the hundreds of thousands of Christians, starting with Jesus of Nazareth , that were executed brutally crucified or devoured by lions either in the temple of Jerusalem or in the circus Massimo of Pagan Rome in horrendous prosecutions that were promoted by them in the first four centuries of Christianism in Europe and middle east?

How about the daily human sacrifices that Paganism promoted in either in Ancient Mexico, Central America in Prehispanic times or under the Celtic rule in Stonehenge in Britain for centuries?

Why the Episcopal Anglican Church never have apologized for the terrible prosecutions against not Anglicans in England under Henry VIIIth, and Elizabeth 1st Tudor when either Protestants, Quakers and Catholics were executed arbitrarily and unmercifully until the point that to survive the remaining ones must come to America to found the USA? or concerning all the racism that England exported around the world from South Africa, across India and to North America?

Why the Eastern Orthodox Christians never have apologized for the horrible crimes committed by Tsar Nichoas I of Russia against the Jewish people that were killed in the Polgroms or the Milosevic rule of Serbia against the Bosnian muslims as well as the Kosovo and Macedonian ones?

Why the Protestant inquisition in America never apologized for the so many witches hunting they carried out in New England during the British colony, against whoever had psychic abilities or just they didn't like? or for the brutally killing of Joseph Smith and many other Mormons? or the genocide of the millions of Native Americans in hands of white protestant settlers during the American expansion to the west? or the slavery and subsequent racism against African Americans in the deep south that is clearly protestant?

Why The Muslims have not apologized at all for all the Buddhist , Christian and Jewish Martyrs that have been executed during all the years of religious intolerance in the middle east and North Africa since even before the time of the Crusades?

Why the Mormons never have apologized to all the victims, in particular the children, that were forced to grow up under the terrible practice of Polygamy in their own communities or the LGBT community that still resist their oppression in states like Utah?

Why the Atheistic people never have apologized for the systematic killing of religious people of any denomination under Atheistic regimes as the Nazi Germany, the USSR or the Peoples Republic of China?

Why the Quakers never have apologized for the terrible crimes of corruption and abuse of power that one of their most distinguished members President Richard Nixon committed against millions around the world? Like in the horrendous bombing of Cambodia?

Why the Tibetan Buddhism never have apologized for the crimes of feudal slavery that were committed in that land under the rule of Lammas?

These are the kind of questions that may boost a deep reflection of how good might be that a lot of more people of other creeds follow the example of the Pope Francis I to exercise the action of to Apologize and repent of sins.

Of course the thread is opened to the free discussion of this so important historic topic in the framework of the rules of decorum in the communication and the mutual respect in the exchange of ideas.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: The angel of light

It is great for someone to apologize to their past victims as long as the apology
is genuine and not for show.

a reply to: The angel of light
Please point me in the right direction of when did the Jesuits appologise for the inquisition. How long did it take the Vatican to appologise for all the paedophile priests (if they have)?

a reply to: The angel of light

I'm pretty sure that Francis is only responsible for his own camp and people. He can lead the way, but it is on the leaders of the various sects you mentioned to make those apologies, not Francis.

originally posted by: mamabeth
a reply to: The angel of light

It is great for someone to apologize to their past victims as long as the apology
is genuine and not for show.

Absolutely spot on. It may, in fact, be true as no need to dissemble when one has an obvious truth instead...

It seems both true and expedient at the same time....Time will tell which dominates.

a reply to: nwtrucker

With all respect dear nwtrucker,

your comment sounds me as a distraction sophism, in other words have all the appearance of a smog curtain , to be honest and sincere.

Let me invite you and any other reader to reflect in the following gospel quote:

St Matthew 7, 2"For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?…

I am sorry but this attitude makes me feel extremely disappointed, is a way to go around the crucial point, try to attribute all the evilness of this world to only one religious denomination, it looks pretty hypocritical by the way, intolerant and demonizing.

Here another quote that points directly to what we are discussing here:

St John 8, …6They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.…

Thanks for the comments,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: The angel of light

I fail to see where an accusation of sophistry is in any way connected with "all due respect".

I have zero bias either way for the Catholic Church. Any group that produces a Mother Teresa has something to be said for it.

I do, however, have a 'look, don't listen' attitude that has served in good stead my 65 years. He is human and we do have our failings. I, for one, as well as who I responded to reserve judgment at this point.

Naivety is also a human failing.

jesus was jewish, killed by romans, why on earth would the jews apologise?
hitler was a roman catholic not an atheist.
stalin was an atheist, not believing in any superhero spirit like the easter bunny, so who exactly would he apologise to?

How about they open up the Vatican library to scholarly review and return all those gold jew teeth. Then it would be more than just empty words.

a reply to: stinkelbaum

Well let me go by parts:

Jesus was indeed Jewish but he was rejected by the Sanhedrim , judged and condemned even with false charges, since he never called to any rebellion against the Roman rule, and that was the principal accusation presented to the Roman Procurator Pilates by the high priesthood of Jerusalem against him, that he was proclaimed himself as King of the Jews.

Only Romans can apply death penalty in Palestine at the time of Christ, but they didn't have any charge against him, the charges were manufactured by the members of the Sanhedrim, in particular the Pharisees that visibly hated him and his followers.

The Jewish leaders brought him to the Romans for execution falsely accused of subversive, but the fact is that less than a generation after Christ the Sanhedrim supported two unsuccessful rebellions against Rome in the 67 and 71 AD leading the entire nation to its worst historic hour ever.

Joseph Stalin committed huge genocides in the name of a atheistic Marxist regime, but he himself was born Orthodox Christian and even attended a seminar of that denomination in his native Georgia. Nevertheless there is no evidence that he practiced any religion in his adult life, but atheism is a way of life even protected by laws and the constitution in America.

"You know, they are fooling us, there is no God...all this talk about God is sheer nonsense" in E. Yaroslavsky, Landmarks in the Life of Stalin, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1940

Now, Karl Marx was all his life nominal Jewish, but it is clear he was since young privately atheistic.

Karl Marx, "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."

Please read:

diglotting.com...

Hitler was possibly a nominal Catholic by birth, since he was born in Austria, but there is no evidence whatsoever that he practiced this religion in his adult life nor being Leader of the Nazi Germany. As a matter of fact many biographers coincide that he might be even the extramarital son of a Jewish.

Nazism was never a Catholic ideology, as a matter of fact Hitler several times complained that Catholicism and Christianism in general, including Protestantism, was part of the negative influence of Jewish culture over Germany.

Religious view of Adolf Hitler

Hundreds of thousands of Catholic priests, monks and nunes were sent to the concentration fields due to their rejection of the ethnical cleaning policies of the third Reich.

Adolf Hitler, "I realize that man, in his imperfection, can commit innumerable errors - but to devote myself deliberately to errors, that is something I cannot do. I shall never come personally to terms with the Christian lie. Our epoch in the next 200 years will certainly see the end of the disease of Christianity."

Pls read:

enzaferreri.blogspot.com...

Hitler used religion as a political weapon, but he publically was very cautious to don't support none, to prevent confrontation in between Catholics and Protestants in Germany, however in the circles of Nazism at high level he only promoted a return of Germans to ancient Paganism, to the ancient gods of the Nordic mythology, He was obsessed with the Germanic myths finely recreated in the music of Rihard Wagner.

No body that has been truly Catholic or Christian may commit suicide in the way he did.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: The angel of light

You have decided to open a VERY BIG can of worms here . should be interesting to read the comments and see what you may have missed .Man seems to have a long history of injustice and one that can include some Native American tribes injustices towards other tribes . I think the English should apologize to the French for running them out of Acadia as well . Good thread S&F

a reply to: The angel of light

"Love is never having to say 'I'm sorry'"....

a reply to: The angel of light
Hitler was VERY public about his Christianity, and most certainly practiced into his adult life. He included it in his speeches, and in his writings.

As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice. ...And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly, it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.

And when I look on my people I see them work and work and toil and labor, and at the end of the week they have only for their wages wretchedness and misery. When I go out in the morning and see these men standing in their queues and look into their pinched faces, then I believe I would be no Christian, but a very devil, if I felt no pity for them, if I did not, as did our Lord two thousand years ago, turn against those by whom today this poor people are plundered and exposed.

Link

On topic: Historically, the Catholic church has much to apologize for. At least they are willing to do so at this point, unlike the others you mention. But you must remember that in the minds of some who belong to the other groups, the atrocities they committed were justified.

Hitler was possibly a nominal Catholic by birth, since he was born in Austria, but there is no evidence whatsoever that he practiced this religion in his adult life nor being Leader of the Nazi Germany. As a matter of fact many biographers coincide that he might be even the extramarital son of a Jewish.

I wonder how the RCC defines faith .They dont seem to be the only denomination that runs into this problem .If God gave His Son to be a sacrifice for our sin and believing that we have eternal life then how is it possible for someone to be born into the faith ? Its a choice to make and no amount of "Holy Water" can get around it . Just as the Hebrews could become a Jew so too the Gentiles can become Christian . Its a faith issue not a birth right .

a reply to: Klassified

Dear Klassified, I am wondering what kind of Christianity is what you are talking about? your post is clearly misinforming
in that sense, with all respect.

As I already told Hitler used religion as a political weapon, he was not sincere on nothing attained with Christianity.

As a matter of fact he was he was obviously included within the February 1931 edict of the Conference of German Bishops excommunicating all leaders and active members of the Nazi party.

Please check :

Scholder, Klaus, The Churches and the Third Reich. 2 vols. Fortress Press, 1988 pp. 150-162. Student7 (talk) 16:12, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

Ronald Rychlak: Hitler, the War and the Pope and Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis. There are also many articles on Catholic Answers rebutting the anti-historical charges that the Catholic Church didn't do anything to stop the Holocaust or the Nazis.


Pls read:
zenit.org...

Notice that the Excommunication edict was released at least two years before Adolf Hitler arrived to Power in Germany.

By 1937 all Catholic newspapers, organizations and schools had been suppressed in the Third German Nazi Reich .

So Pope Pius XI issued an Encyclical: Mit Brennender Sorge (With Burning Sorrow), condemning the Nazi regime's treatment of the Church. It was smuggled to every church in Germany and read out simultaneously on Sunday 14th March 1937.

Here it is the complete text of the Papal encyclical against Nazism:

www.ewtn.com...

On May 18th 1937 the American Cardinal Mundelein viciously attacked Hitler and other Nazi leaders. When the German government protested, the Pope refused to reprimand the Cardinal. The Cardinal's attack swung the views of many Americans in favour of help for Britain when the Second World War started.

Pls read:

www.churchinhistory.org...

After excommunication No body remains anymore Catholic even if he was born as it, or his ancestry had something to do with Catholicism. It is a total expulsion from the Church in all aspects.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

Pope shmope....
Lets see the Catholic beast return the plundered treasures it was built upon......
I can only see the very roots of hypocrisy in the religions people cling to.....
Apologies are for shmucks...penitent restitution is for Christians ..but there aren't many left....
All i see are sick minds preying upon the guileless, the gullible, the feeble minded....the ignorant...
Take your money and feed you hope that is never fulfilled....good business that....
But based on bull# nonetheless....

Because the Catholic church has an army of pr people and they know the value a public apology better because they have had much chance to practice. That they even exist is a miracle but they repent, eventually and people forgive them. They have the most savage history of any religion that I can think of in the past 1500 years.

a reply to: stinkelbaumhitler was German pagan and hated Christianity with a passion. Himmlers SS was an occult order with pagan style rituals as was the Gestapo and the whole Aryan myth is bs Aryans are closer to the Persian people if anything, but they were not opposed to propaganda and e went to the extreme with the master race ideology. Not Catholic.

a reply to: The angel of light

How about the daily human sacrifices that Paganism promoted in either in Ancient Mexico, Central America in Prehispanic times or under the Celtic rule in Stonehenge in Britain for centuries?

Paganism advocated human sacrifice!? Way to over generalize...That's incredibly disingenuous.

All I can say is human history is littered with atrocities committed on all sides and to say that only a group of people should bear the responsibility of apologizing for acts committed by their predecessors is an outdated motif and surely not enough to make up for the deaths of the innocent lost. I mean could you imagine if after Nazi's lost the war they just apologized for all the #ed up # they did and expected everyone to just accept it?
With the case of the catholic church, why not make up for those atrocities by shedding the billions of $$$ that they don't need and give it to the groups of people they harmed?

a reply to: NateTheAnimator

Dear NateTheAnimator,

I have a dream, that one day all and everyone of the religious and political leaders of the world apologize publically for all the evil done along History by the regimes and creeds they represent, against their own nations and the entire humanity. I know it is a really ambitious dream, but for now it is positive that the Pope is assuming his own responsibility and giving such a good example, in a year he has dedicated to meditate in Mercy.

Now, how about all of us, why we don't start to apologize for what our own religions or ideologies have done wrong or criminal along History and in that way start in a very modest and personal dimension to see that dream achieved. This can be a first step toward the necessary apology from the Leaders of the world.

If everybody agree in to stop intolerance, violence and confrontation, the leaders of the world will not have other choice than to respect the popular will, or loose their jobs. If humanity stand up united asking for world peace in harmony, the agitators of the war will soon or later see that they are alone. That they even Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will not have more choice than to respect the right of nations like Ukraine to live in peace and harmoniously.

I think when muslims apologize for all what the Islam has done wrongly, since the prohibition to Christians to attend the Holy sepulchre, to the September 11th 2001, Jewish for all what they have done wrongly since the death of Jesus to the Palestinian genocide, the Pagans for all their human sacrificies, The atheistics for all their historical purges done in the name of utopias, the Protestants for all the segregation they tolerated and even endorsed, including the pushing of native americans into reservations, The Orthodox Christians for the pogroms etc, etc, by sure We are going to construct an entirely different world, much balanced for all, plenty of compassion and mutual understanding.

That will be the moment in which the messianic era announced in prophecies of all religions to come will arrive and rule the world.

Please stop the historic chain of hypocrisy of who see only the sins in others and not in our own past.

Thanks,

The Angel of Ligthness