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Spiritual Coercion Mary Ann Collins December 2001
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Popes have ruled over kings and other secular rulers by using the "spiritual weapons" of excommunication and interdict. These "weapons" have been effective because Roman Catholics believe that the Pope has the power to deprive them of the grace which they need in order to get to Heaven. Excommunicated people are cut off from the Catholic Church, from church services, from Christian burial, and from the sacraments (communion, confession, baptism, confirmation, marriage, and the "last rites"). [Note 1] Because Catholics believe that the Catholic Church and the sacraments are necessary for salvation, this is, in effect, sentencing them to hell. Following is an example of a Pope who officially declared that he was damning somebody to hell. Pope Innocent III reigned from 1198 to 1216. He excommunicated Markward of Anweiler. In passing the sentence of excommunication, Innocent declared that he anathematized Markward, cursed him, and damned him to hell. [Note 2] In 1014, Pope Leo IX excommunicated the entire Orthodox Church. This means that, according to Catholic theology, every single Orthodox priest, nun, layman, and laywoman was damned to hell unless he or she repented and submitted to the Catholic Pope. [Note 3] In 1965, Pope Paul VI removed that excommunication. I'm grateful that he removed it. However, that does not change the fact that for 951 years, every single Orthodox Christian lived and died under that curse. The Council of Trent (1545-1564) was the Roman Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation. It denounced every single doctrine which was proposed by the Protestant Reformers. It declared that any person who believes even one of these doctrines is "anathema" (officially and ritually cursed by the Catholic Church). (The documents produced by the Council of Trent were published as a book. It is available online.) [ Note 3] It also defined Catholic doctrines, detail by detail, and declared that anybody who denies even one of these details is anathema. These doctrines include the authority of the Pope, the practice of indulgences, veneration of Mary and the saints, the use of statues and sacred images, and the belief that Jesus Christ is literally and fully present (body, blood, soul and divinity) in every crumb of consecrated bread and every drop of consecrated wine. So the Council of Trent anathematized all Protestants. Interdicts are a somewhat less severe form of excommunication which is applied to large groups of people, including entire nations. Baptism and the "last rites" are allowed, but all other sacraments are forbidden. Church services and Christian burial are also forbidden. So if the Pope is in conflict with a secular ruler, then he can put the ruler's subjects (who are innocent) under interdict in order to put pressure on the ruler. It works. The ruler's Catholic subjects put pressure on him to submit to the Pope, so that the Pope will remove the interdict. [Note 4] Interdicts were used primarily during the Middle Ages. But they have also been used recently As we will see, the interdict was used as late as 1962. Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) used interdicts and the threat of interdicts eighty-five times in order to force secular rulers to submit to him. He was so successful that kings declared that the Pope was their feudal lord. For example, King John of England became the vassal of the Pope and paid him an annual tribute. [Note 5] Innocent III wore clothes covered with gold and jewels. He made kings and cardinals kiss his foot. [Note 6] In the papal bull "Deliberatio," Innocent declared,
Pope Boniface VIII reigned from 1294 to 1303. On November 18, 1302, he issued the papal bull "Unam Sanctam" in which he declared that the Pope has both spiritual and worldly power. Boniface ended the bull by declaring,
One of the most famous incidents of excommunication occurred when Pope Gregory VII excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. In order to receive forgiveness from the Pope, and to have the excommunication removed, Emperor Henry had to spend three days repenting in front of the castle where the Pope was staying. It was bitter cold (January, 1077). Henry spent most of his time kneeling in the ice and snow, weeping and pleading for forgiveness. When Pope Gregory finally allowed Emperor Henry to come into the castle, he publicly humiliated him. [Note 9] Pope Gregory VII declared that the Pope has the right to depose kings and emperors, to make laws, and to require secular rulers to kiss his feet. He said that nobody has the right to judge the Pope. [Note 10] This is not ancient history. The authority, and the procedure for exercising it, are in existence today. The present Pope (John Paul II) has issued a new edition of Roman Catholic Canon Law (the legal regulations of the Roman Catholic Church). Canons 1331 and 1332 deal with punishments for people who have been excommunicated or placed under interdict. Canons 1364 to 1399 deal with penalties for "delicts" (offenses against Canon Law). These penalties include excommunication and being placed under interdict. [Note 11] INTIMIDATING VOTERS IN 1962 A more modern example of spiritual intimidation is the 1962 election in Malta (a small island in the Mediterranean Sea, near Sicily). Dr. Mark F. Montebello is a Catholic priest from the Island of Malta. He wrote a series of three articles entitled, "Civil Rights in Malta's Post-Colonial Age." The third article describes how the Archbishop of Malta required Malta's Catholic priests to help him prevent Catholics from voting for Mintoff (the Labor Party candidate) in Malta's 1962 election. According to Dr. Montebello, the Archbishop instructed the priests to use the sacrament of confession to coerce the consciences of Catholic voters. He ordered the priests to threaten people with eternal damnation. He also endorsed literature which contained "medieval intimidations" (i.e., the kind of spiritual intimidation that was done during the Middle Ages). [Note 12 gives the address of an on-line article.] The Catholic Church officially declared that it was a mortal sin to vote for Mintoff. Priests who failed to cooperate were silenced. Some of them were forced to leave Malta and become missionaries in foreign countries. [Note 13 gives the address of an on-line article.] Maltese Catholics who voted for Mintoff were placed under interdict. It became a mortal sin to vote for Mintoff. Catholics who voted for Mintoff were banned from church life and from the sacraments. They were denied a Christian burial. Instead, they were buried in a section of the cemetery which was called "the rubbish dump," implying that the soul of the dead person was damned. A citizen of Malta recounts,
The Catholic Church categorizes sins as either mortal sins (the most serious kind) or venial sins (which are considered to be less serious). [Note 15] According to Catholic doctrine, if a person dies in a state of mortal sin, then he or she is damned to hell. [Note 16] In order for a mortal sin to be forgiven, a Catholic must go to confession and receive absolution from a priest. [Note 17] However, if a Catholic is under interdict, then he or she is not allowed to receive the sacraments, and therefore cannot receive absolution for their sins. So what happened to Maltese Catholics who voted for Mintoff? (1) According to the Catholic Church, they committed a mortal sin. (2) They were placed under interdict, and therefore they could not have that mortal sin be absolved. (3) Therefore, they die in a state of mortal sin. According to Catholic doctrine, that means that they go to hell. There is one exception. A person under interdict is allowed to receive the "last rites." However, this requires that: (1) the person is close to death and knows that they are dying; (2) in spite of being near death, they are in good enough shape mentally and physically to be able to look for a priest (or to ask friends or family members to look for a priest); (3) they are able to find a priest who is willing to help them; and (4) the priest gets there in time to give them the "last rites" before they die. According to Catholic doctrine, this means the difference between Heaven and hell. USE OF THIS ARTICLE I encourage you to link to this article. You have permission to quote from this article, as long as you do it fairly and accurately. You have permission to make copies of this article for friends and for use in classes. NOTES 1. Bruce L. Shelley, "Church History in Plain Language," Updated Second Edition (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982, 1995), page 185. 2. Paul Johnson, "A History of Christianity" ( New York: Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, 1976, 1995), page 199. Paul Johnson is a prominent historian and a Catholic. 3. For more information about this, see my article “Ecumenism and the Council of Trent.” 4. Bruce L. Shelley, "Church History in Plain Language," page 185. 5. Bruce L. Shelley, "Church History in Plain Language," pages 185-186. 6. Information about the imperial behavior of Innocent III is given in the following books. Peter de Rosa, “Vicars of Christ,” pages 66-69. Paul Johnson, “A History of Christianity,” page 199. Claudio Rendina, “The Popes: Histories and Secrets,” pages 309-316. (Page 310 says that Innocent was convinced that he had “total power” over other men.) J.N.D. Kelly, “The Oxford Dictionary of Popes,” pages 186-188. Richard P. McBrien, “Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II,” pages 209-211. 7. Paul Johnson, "A History of Christianity," page 199. 8. Pope Boniface VIII, “Unam Sanctam”. (If the following links don’t work, then search for “Boniface VIII” + “Unam Sanctam”) 9. Paul Johnson, “A History of Christianity,” pages 194-197. (Paul Johnson is a Catholic.) Peter de Rosa, “Vicars of Christ,” pages 62-64. (Peter de Rosa is a practicing Catholic and a former Catholic priest.) 10. Paul Johnson, pages 196-197. Claudio Rendina, “The Bad Popes,” pages 268-274. (Page 274 says that Gregory wanted to make the countries of Europe become feudal estates of the Pope, with all of the kings meekly obeying him.) J.N.D. Kelly, “The Oxford Dictionary of Popes,” pages 154-156. Richard P. McBrien, “Lives of the Popes,” pages 185-188. 11. "Code of Canon Law," Latin-English Edition, New English Translation, pages 416, 427-435. Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 1998. 12. Dr. Mark F. Montebello, "Civil Rights in Malta's Post-Colonial Age," Part III, "Independence According to the British," first subheading, "The Most Shameful Episode". This article is available on-line. The information is on page 1 of my print-out. 13. E.C. Schembri, "The Making of a Statesman". This is an article about Mintoff, the Labor Party candidate in Malta's 1962 election. The information is on page 2 of my print-out. 14. Joe Mizzi, "Liberty of Conscience". On-line article by a citizen of Malta. 15. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church,” Paragraphs 1854-1856, 1863. The “Catechism” is available in many languages and many editions. It has numbered paragraphs so you can locate things precisely, no matter what language it is in or what edition you are using. 16. "The Catechism of the Catholic Church," Paragraphs 1033, 1874. 17. "The Catechism of the Catholic Church," Paragraphs 1395, 1424, 1449, 1484, 1497. |
Copyright 2001 by Mary Ann Collins. All rights reserved. www.CatholicConcerns.Com
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09/02/2006