the "grand inquisitor"

In Dostoyevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, his character, Ivan, tells a story about an extremist dictator named The Grand Inquisitor. The Inquisitor’s explicit goal is to seize control of the government by force and rule the people via a strict totalitarian state. He claims that he can give the people happiness, whereas freedom produces only misery. Another man now bears the title of “grand inquisitor”, and this man is Josef Ratzinger.

Ratzinger, who has recently taken the papal name of Benedict XVI, has earned this controversial title through the open and harsh persecution of liberation theology in Latin America, as well as the denouncement of many liberal Church officials in Europe and the United States. In other words, Ratzinger has become known as an oppressor of any Catholic voices who speak in a faintly provocative tone. Most disturbing though, is Ratzinger’s all too predictable stances against freethinkers, reason, and the Enlightenment.

The new pope follows closely in his predecessor’s footsteps as predicted. Journalist Peter Schwarz affirms that Ratzinger has issued “papal decrees denouncing contraception and abortion, confirming the subordination of women, denouncing stem-cell research, opposing an increased role for laymen in the life of the Church, barring marriage for priests and abhorring same-sex relationships. He went so far as to officially condemn masturbation.” Ratzinger is as repressively conservative as John Paul II, if not more so.

Ratzinger’s decrees against women’s rights are absolutely appalling. In a recent letter written by the pope, he cites Genesis 3:16 as evidence for the righteousness of his bigotry: “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Of course, in the Catholic Church this sentiment is commonplace, but elsewhere it is thankfully considered ancient and outrageous.

This is a familiar theme for Ratzinger—his inability to accept modernity. He strangely stands against the development of technology and industry, citing them as obstacles that get in the way of worshipping god. Along with this aversion to progression, the pope stands ardently against science. He has a strong dislike for Enlightenment philosophers, saying that they are “blind to a truth which precedes their reason—the pre-political truth of religion” (Schwarz). This radical opposition to freethinkers and scientists is merely a continuation of the line of prototype popes that Catholicism has become so comfortable employing as their “infallible” leaders.

As long as men like Ratzinger sit on top of a throne of obscene wealth and power, it is important for freethinkers, scientists, and all freedom fighters alike to unite against the gross and disproportionate abuse of power exercised by the papacy.

See the article by Peter Schwarz, here.