VIEWS AND PERSPECTIVES, Part 2 of Chapter 7 of Holy Priesthood Volume 6

  True and False Agents    Agents of the Priesthood, similar to men with any other kind of authority, can become oppressive, offensive, cruel and even wicked. The Prophet Joseph soon learned that “almost all men” will rule with “unrighteous dominion.” (See D & C 121:39) This has been proved over and over again throughout history. It happened in the Catholic Church with men who supposedly “held the keys” originally given to Peter. In the 13th century a new order was established called “The Inquisition,” which held trials on those suspected of heresy. When one accused of heresy was brought before the Inquisition, confession and repentance might result in only a token punishment, for instance, the making of a pilgrimage. If the accused remained obstinate in his heresy, he was delivered to the civil authorities for punishment, because the state considered heresy a civil offense. The methods used by the Inquisition were comparable to those of civil courts of the time, but were barbaric according to modern standards. The defendant was denied counsel; testimony of heretics and [104] excommunicates was admitted against him; cruel tortures were often used to extort a confession. Punishment took forms of imprisonment or death (usually by burning alive at the stake) with confiscation of the condemned’s property in either case. Although reliable figures are difficult to obtain, it is known, for example, that during 1239 in France 183 persons were burned. Bernard Gui, one of the prosecutors in southern France in his Register between 1249 and 1258 shows no verdicts of acquittal in the trials of 200 suspects. Gui’s lifetime record of convictions totaled 930, of whom 47 were burned and 307 were sentenced to prison; all 930 had their property confiscated. (American People’s Enc. 10:264)