John Shelby Spong Quotes

Saint Benedicta was born and brought up as a Jew and converted to Catholicism. She and a few other leading German Catholics spoke out forcefully against Nazi crimes and immoralities. She was one of the few German Catholics who wanted the Pope to act more forcefully in Germany. The most controversial aspect of the Pontificate of Pius XI was his relative silence and failure to use the powers of the church and excommunication to condemn and control the Nazi rise to power and their, aggression, discrimination, and atrocities including mass murders. The Pope did occasionally speak out condemning the worst of the German Nazi outrages to morality, but he did not do so very vigorously or order the German Cardinals and other bishops to do so. Supporters of Pius XI point out that the entire Catholic Church in Germany was in peril. The Nazis might have shut down their churches, jailed or murdered priests and seize church property. Many of the German Catholics, including the clergy, were Nazi party members or supporters, and he feared a political schism of German Catholics as well. And Italy, surrounding the Vatican was then under the control of the Italian Fascists who were allies of the Nazis, The Vatican itself and its staff were themselves vulnerable and could have been easily occupied. Apologists for Pius XI observe that the entire Church and its leadership could have been wiped out had they ignored the practicality that the Fascists were in control and would tolerate the Church just so far. Saint Teresa and other Catholics who were outspoken, along with the few Protestant Lutheran Clerics who opposed the Nazis, were indeed arrested and Saint Teresa was finally murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Even that did not galvanize Pope Pius XI to assertive anti Nazi action. The records of the Vatican for that period have not been opened for public study so it is not known for sure that the Pope even saw Saint Teresa’s letter or it was intercepted by the strong pro Nazi faction in the Vatican. That year, Pius signed a Concordat (agreement) with the Nazi Government which many in the Vatican naively believed would control and limit the worst of the Nazi actions. But by 1937, Pius condemned the “violations” of the Concordat and Nazi anti-Semitism as well (encyclical written in German, Mit brennender Sorge (With Burning Anxiety). His critics observe that he went no further, even with the Catholic Nazi clerics and other Catholics. The Carmelite order tried to protect Saint Teresa who was then just a non and leading Catholic intellectual (she had a PhD in philosophy) by sending her to a Carmelite facility in Holland. But the Germans overran the Netherlands, arrested her and sent her to Auschwitz where she was martyred. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910

In this speech, and in {634756}, he argued against unification to a public that was mostly opposed. The leadership was interested because they were facing the Muslim Ottoman Turks who were getting more powerful each day. The Eastern Emperor, Constantine XI, more of a soldier and politician than a cleric, wanted the military strength of the Franks and other Western European Christian armies to help protect the Eastern Empire and Byzantium and were willing to reunite under the Pope to get it. Gennadios and his faction were not. They prevailed and the next year, the Muslims conquered Byzantium which had little help from the armies of the Western Roman Empire.

The Christian Roman Empire was split in two—a Western (Latin) Empire led by the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, and the Eastern (Greek) Roman Empire led by the Orthodox Church headquartered in Constantinople (Byzantium). The two churches were not only in a theological conflict but violence broke out and the armies of the two religious empires attacked each other now and then. In 1439, leader of the two versions of Christianity met in Florence, and they agreed to reunuion in which the Eastern Orthodox would again acknowledge the authority of the Pope. This was not a popular agreement with the majority of the Eastern Orthodox people and some of the clerical leadership including Gennadios who had dissented in 1439 and voted against unification. In this speech, and in {634755}, he argued against unification to a public that was mostly opposed. The leadership was interested because they were facing the Muslim Ottoman Turks who were getting more powerful each day. The Eastern Emperor, Constantine XI, more of a soldier and politician than a cleric, wanted the military strength of the Franks and other Western European Christian armies to help protect the Eastern Empire and Byzantium and were willing to reunite under the Pope to get it. Gennadios and his faction were not. They prevailed and the next year, the Muslims conquered Byzantium which had little help from the armies of the Western Roman Empire.

The Christian Roman Empire was split in two—a Western (Latin) Empire led by the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, and the Eastern (Greek) Roman Empire led by the Orthodox Church headquartered in Constantinople (Byzantium). The two churches were not only in a theological conflict but violence broke out and the armies of the two religious empires attacked each other now and then. In 1439, leaders of the two versions of Christianity met in Florence, and they agreed to reunuion in which the Eastern Orthodox would again acknowledge the authority of the Pope. This was not a popular agreement with the majority of the Eastern Orthodox people and some of the clerical leadership. Constantine, realizing that he did not have pubic support at home for the end to the schism and the acceptance of the authority of the Pope, kept stalling on officially announcing and implementing the unity treaty. The Pope’s patience was wearing thin. Constantine did not adhere to ther treaty and the two churches have been apart ever since.

Odo of Chatillon-Sur-Marne. This is an amazingly distressing quotation for most moderns. Here we have the Pope preaching genocide and ethnic cleansing. This was one of the main triggers of the bloody Crusades and is not forgotten by Muslims in the Middle East Today. As Islam has not changed a great deal in 1000 years, most Muslims assume that the same is true of Christianity and especially the popes and the Roman Catholic Church. This is one of the reasons that the Islamic world reacts so strongly when a pope makes any statement negatve about Muslims and Islam.

Before the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther, there had been a schism of the Catholic Church into the Western Roman Empire—the Latins, headquartered in Rome; and the Orthodox Church—the Greeks, headquartered in Constantinople (Byzantium). One of the main issues of the schism was the Papacy itself. As this quotation shows, Luther was by no means the first to attack the Papacy. Saint Mark’s quotation here was more than 50 years before Luther was born.

The origins of the extreme religious intolerance of Spain occurred centuries before the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition. Before the Conference the Visigoths and their king had been converted to Christianity but not all cared for the new religion.

Two were executed and the others sent to the Gulags. This is often quoted to show how hostile the Soviet Union was to all religions.

1st Earl of Strafford

In effect, the English Parliament replaced the Pope as head of the Catholic church in Ireland with King Henry the VIII. He had already become the head of the Church in England when the Pope refused to grant him the right of divorce so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, The Irish clergy and many Irishman were aghast. They were instructed to erase the Pope from their literature {639436}. They were even more distressed when the English Royal Commission recommended the closing of all Irish monasteries. See {639434}.

This quotation shows the unique relationship that the Irish Republic has had with the Catholic Church. There was probably no other non Muslim country in the world where a political leaders could get elected avowing this kind of loyalty and control by a religious heirerchy. See {639726} for an even more Irish, drastic departure from the concept of separation of church and state.

The Netherlands and Belgium then belonged to Spain. However, Protestantism was spreading to the Netherlands. The Duke was a Catholic fanatic and advised the King to send him and an army into the Lowlands to root out and kill the heretics. In contrast, the Duke of Feria counseled allowing the lowlands tolerance. The King, himself a bloody fanatic sent Alba with the army. Over the next decade he murdered and executed thousands of Protestants and many Catholics who were more tolerant and thought Alba, who was given the derogatory nickname of “The Iron Duke. Ironically, this led to the Lowlands revolting and gaining independence from Spain.

The Netherlands and Belgium then belonged to Spain. However, Protestantism was spreading to the Netherlands. The Duke of Alva was a Catholic fanatic and advised the King to send him and an army into the Lowlands to root out and kill the heretics. In contrast, the Duke of Feria counseled allowing the lowlands tolerance and warned that if the Inquisition and Alva’s army were introduced and would be feared as Alva wanted, the might get desperate and do unexpected things like revolt. The King, a Catholic fanatic himself, sent Alva and the Inquisition. In the next 12 years, fear spread throughout the lowlands. Finally, the people became so desperate that they did revolt and the lowlands gained their independence and Spain lost their most important and European possessions.

After King Henry VIII left the Roman Catholic Church and adopted Protestantism, English Protestants were in great danger in Catholic Europe. Queen Elisabeth I, with its traditional trading partners in Catholic Europe too dangerous for English merchants, negotiated successfully with the Ottoman Empire Sultan Murad III, for mutual trading. An Englishman was much safer in the Islamic world than he was in Europe. Not only did England open up new markets but its merchants developed the skills of trading with the East which was one of the main factors allowing them to be so successful in establishing the British Empire which was always fundamentally a trading empire. Elizabeth’s successful foreign policy not only allowed prosperity despite the schism with Europe, but established the foundation for England to become the greatest world power.

See related quote.