How many deaths has the Catholic church caused?

Answer 1

Opinion

It's hard to answer this question definitively since holy wars and inquisitions sanctioned by church leaders happened before reliable records were kept. However, the Roman Catholic Church was a world power in earlier times and history is inescapable. The Roman Catholic Church and secular rulers were closely entertwined in Antiquity and Medieval periods and later.

The crusades and the inquisitions claimed many victims and death was not always the worst result. Estimates range from thousands to millions. Accurate statistics are simply unavailable. The many different inquisitions were sanctioned by the papacy and carried out by both church and secular authorities.

Statistics can only be acquired by time consuming research into available handwritten records in each locality. There is no central resource for such information and few records have been studied. Handwritten records were not produced in every locality for every occurrence. Many records have been lost or destroyed and they were written by the aggressors. Available accounts from the the records that have been studied may reflect the bias of the researcher. Those factors make accurate statistics questionable overall and available on a chronologically and regionally limited basis.

For more information you need to perform your own research reading accounts from a variety of reliable sources.

Opinion

From a Roman Catholic perspective: The Answer above, unfortunately, is in line with centuries of lies about the Catholic Church especially the lumping together of the Crusades and the Inquisitions claiming up to "millions" of "victims". These are two separate issues, and whether the Roman Catholic Church is "responsible" for individual's actions is a completely different question. During the various Inquisitions, of which you can read about at the links below, the Church's only interest was in saving souls. Anyone who died was considered a complete failure by the Church and this was *never* sought by the Church. In very limited circumstances, for instance, during the Spanish Crusade the number reached an unheard of number of two per year. And these resulted from capital punishment imposed by the Spanish Crown, NOT the Church.

In the case of the Inquisition, we have a collection of falsehoods and half-truths which have been published and taught in schools for hundreds of years, at least since the seventeenth century. Such notable anti-Catholic thinkers such as Voltaire, Diderot, and Hume all "scribbled more attacks on the Crusades. A good example of this period is Edward Gibbon, the author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". Maureen Dowd, a contemporary columnist for the New York Times is a contemporary version of an anti-Catholic who groups the Crusades with historical atrocities. All of this "history" is, to quote the scholar, Diane Moczar, in her book, Seven Lies about Catholic History, "hogwash": Unprovoked Muslim aggression in the seventh century brought the Holy Land under Muslim/Arab rule, and Christians who survived were reduced to an inferior class known as dhimmi, their Churches were destroyed, and they lived under extremely harsh conditions. They had been asking Rome for help for centuries but Rome was unable to respond being invaded itself by northern pagans. The popes finally succeeded in rallying support for these oppressed Christians in the eleventh century. "The general consensus of opinion among medievalists . . . is that the Crusades were military expeditions organized by the peoples of Western Christendom, notably the Normans and the French, under the leadership of the Roman Popes, for the recovery of the Holy Places from their Muslim masters." They were NOT colonialist or commercial ventures, they were not intended to force Christianity on Jews and Muslims, and they were not the projects of individual warlords." There were many ignoble, and even horrific episodes over the centuries - on both sides, but they are nothing, nothing like what recent Propaganda would have you believe.

The real answer to the question: "how many deaths is the Roman Catholic Church responsible for?" It would be too many if it is only one death, and there were instances of individuals, who thought they were following the Church who responsible for more than one death. But the Church, itself, is the Mystical Body of Christ, always has been, and is led by the Holy Spirit to lead people to heaven. As such, the Author of Lies, the devil, is always, and unceasingly behind a continuous effort to blacken the Church's reputation. Any reputable historian looking at these events in the past must take into consideration sin, and the motives, and the authority in place. To even ask this question is to foresee an answer not in line with the truth.

Answer 2

As with any religion, exact figures are hard to come by. With historical factors and events that must be taken into account, it is a case of personal and profession distraction that adjusts the figure. This means that the figures of death tolls rise and fall depending on what one classes as 'causing death'. Some would argue that over the years, it would have to be in the range of at least tens of millions. Some might argue for hundreds of millions or even billions, but these would slightly harder to justify. Others would suggest that the figure is much lower than these estimates and that the higher death toll figures are unjust and unreflective of the true numbers involved.

Answer 3

Adolph Hitler was a devout catholic, and would not do anything without the blessing of the catholic church. .He received the support of the church throughout his 12 year reign of terror.... The Catholic bishops welcomed 'the new, strong stress on authority in the German state'; Bishop Bornewasser told the Catholic youth in Trier Cathedral: 'With raised heads and firm step we have entered the new Reich and we are prepared to serve it with all the might of our body and soul.'

People who wished to be cremated after death were excommunicated from the catholic church. Hitler was never excommunicated... he lived and died a Catholic....

So on this one instance alone millions lost their lives...

Draw your own conclusions....