TULIP GEMS

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT & THE VATICAN (Part 1)

 

"Thou shalt not kill."   (Exodus 20:13)

 

"A king need not fear to command massacres, when these will retain his subjects in obedience, or cause them to submit to the faith of Christ; and God will reward him in this world, and in eternal life, for these murders."  -- Pope Nicholas I[1]

 

"All heretics are to be tortured and killed."   -- Pope Urban II[2]

 

" ... the interests of the Holy See ... make it a duty to exterminate the Hussites.  Remember that these impious persons dare declare principles of equality; they maintain that all Christians are brethren...."  -- Pope Martin V[3]

 

Many people (including most Catholics) are unaware of the blood soaked history of the Vatican.  But volumes have been written on the subject.  This article will briefly highlight just a few examples of Vatican inspired murders.

 

 

FIRST CRUSADE TO THE HOLY LAND

 

Crusaders passing through the Rhine Valley on their way to the Middle East thought it their obligation to God to destroy as many Jews as possible. Attacking without mercy, their battle cry was "Deus Vult" meaning "God wills it."

 

The Crusaders slaughtered Jews throughout Europe and upon arriving in the Middle East they continued their carnage, even burning Jews alive in their synagogues.[4]

 

The centers of Jewish life in Western Europe -- Mainz, Worms, Speyer, Trier, Cologne -- all were wiped out.[5]  Pope Urban II (quoted above) was the instigator of the First Crusade.

 

 

CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES

 

In the large town of Bezieres, the Albigenses lived among their Catholic neighbors.  Simon de Montfort asked the Papal Legate how they should know whom to kill and whom to spare.

 

The Abbot of Ceteaux replied that they should "KILL THEM ALL and let God sort them out."[6]  At least 40,000 died in Bezieres.  And so it went in Carcassonne, Albi, Toulouse, and others.  Lyons saw 20,000 of its citizens put to death for heresy.[7]

 

Hundreds of villages saw ALL their residents massacred.[8]  These residents included many women and children.  Nineteen principal cities of southern France were now devoid of Albigenses, where once they had flourished.[9]

 

Pope Innocent III was the most powerful pope ever to live.  His papacy marked the Vatican's highest point of supremacy over kings and nations.  He considered the mass murder of Albigenses the crowning achievement of his papacy.

 

 

THE INQUISITION

 

In 1233, Pope Gregory IX commissioned the Dominicans to punish heresy.  They operated first in southern France and northern Italy.  Later, they operated with the same horrible cruelty in England, Spain, the Netherlands and Latin America.

 

The Inquisition was a secret Catholic court that used torture and withheld the names of accusers in its judgment of heretics.  It then turned them over to secular rulers for punishment -- usually burning at the stake and loss of all property.

 

It was the perfect setup for bigots and villains to seek revenge, rid themselves of rivals, or feel important to "holy mother church".  No one arrested was ever acquitted.

 

The inquisitors believed that it was "better for an hundred innocent people to die than for one heretic to go free." They held that torture was not expected to rescue the accused from his heresy, but its main purpose was to terrorize the masses.

 

Such was the fate of millions -- real people -- just like you and me.  Fear of any thought not approved by the Vatican brought intellectual stagnation.  It became almost impossible to openly be a Jew or a Bible believing Christian in Europe.

 

 

FRANCE'S SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE

 

After 300 years of Catholic Inquisition, Europe was ripe for the Protestant Reformation.  By the time of Calvin, there arose again Bible believing Christians in France.

 

Here's how the Vatican dealt with them.  On August 22, 1572, the bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre began.

 

This was to be one fatal blow to destroy the Protestant movement in France. The king of France had cleverly arranged a marriage between his sister and Admiral Coligny, the chief Protestant leader. There was a great feast with much celebrating.

 

After four days of feasting the soldiers were given a signal.   At twelve o'clock midnight, all the houses of the Protestants in the city were forced open at once.

 

The Admiral was killed, his body thrown out of a window into the street where his head was cut off and sent to the Pope. They also cut off his arms and privates and dragged him through the streets for three days until they finally hung his body by the heels outside the city.

 

They also slaughtered many other well-known Protestants. In the first three days, over ten thousand were killed. The bodies were thrown into the river and blood ran through the streets into the river until it appeared like a stream of blood.

 

So furious was their hellish rage that they even slew their own followers if they suspected that they were not very strong in their belief in the Pope. From Paris, the destruction spread to all parts of the country.

 

Over eight thousand more people were killed. Very few Protestants escaped the fury of their persecutors.[10]

 

 

 

IRELAND'S FEAST OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA

 

A similar massacre occurred in Ireland in 1641. The conspirators picked October 23, the feast of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order. They planned a general uprising for the whole country.  All Protestants would be killed at once.

 

To throw them off guard while the plan was being made, extra acts of kindness were shown to the Protestants.  Early in the morning the conspirators were armed and every Protestant they could find was immediately murdered.

 

They showed no mercy.  From children to the aged, they were killed.  Even invalids were not spared.  They were caught by complete surprise.  They had lived in peace and safety for years and now found no place to run.

 

Neighbors, friends, and even relatives massacred them.  Death often was the least they had to fear.

 

Women were tied to posts, stripped to the waist, their breasts cut off with shears and left to bleed to death.  Others who were pregnant were tied to tree branches, their unborn babies cut out and fed to the dogs while the husbands were forced to watch.[11]

 

"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

 

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered...."   (Revelation 17:5-6)

 

The Vatican often promotes a religion of hate and murder.  Even when it does not, it refuses to condemn the many Popes who did.  Vatican murders are an enormous violation of the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).

 

 

 

 The Sixth Commandment and Vatican (Part 2)

 

NOTES:

 

[1] Dave Hunt, A WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST (Harvest House Publishers:  Eugene, OR, 1994) pp. 124-125.

 

[2] Ibid. p. 246.

 

[3] Ibid. p. 247.

 

[4] Jack Van Impe, ISRAEL'S FINAL HOLOCAUST (Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, TN, 1979) pp. 51-52.

 

[5] Leo Trepp, A HISTORY OF THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE (Behrman House, Inc: New York, NY, rev. ed. 1973) p. 154.

 

[6] John T. Christian, A HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS (Bogard Press: Texarkana, Arkansas - Texas, 1922) p. 63. SEE ALSO: John Foxe, FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS paperback ed., Marie Gentert King, Editor, (Spire Book published by Fleming H. Revell: Old Tappan, NJ, 1968) pp. 46-47.

 

[7] G. H. Orchard, A CONCISE HISTORY OF BAPTISTS (Bogard Press: Texarkana, AR-TX, 1987) p. 215.

 

[8] Ibid. p. 216.

 

[9] Ibid. p. 206.

 

[10] Jack T. Chick, SMOKESCREENS (Chick Publications: Chino, CA, 1983) pp. 14-17.

 

[11] Ibid. p. 17.