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St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, the murder of French Protestant Huguenots by the Roman Catholic Church in 1572

Prepared by Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI & TTT Newsletters // Website: www.toughissues.org A 4-Page Handout // Jan. 27, 2011 // Mar. 3, 2011

QUESTION: Who are the greatest “haters” in the world?

ANSWER: The greatest haters (and also the greatest torturers and mass murderers) in the world are the prelates (i.e., the high-ranking clergy) of the Roman Catholic Church-State (i.e., Papal Rome). Sadly, many mid-to- lower-level Roman Catholic clergy have often participated in the hateful deeds (e.g., “holy” Inquisition and “holy” crusades) commanded by their religious superiors – and by their popes!

Almost from its very beginning, the Roman Catholic Church-State has persecuted and murdered its “competition” – its “perceived enemies”. From “holy” Inquisition to “holy” crusades, it has committed more “crimes against humanity” than any other nation, religion, or institution in the world! The Roman Catholic Church-State has not only tortured and murdered individuals, but it has also frequently conducted genocide on an enormous scale. It seems that every 50 to 100 years the Roman Catholic Church-State goes on a “mass- murder spree”. In 1882 French historian Baron de Ponnat stated: “Roman Catholicism was born in blood, has wallowed in blood, has quenched its thirst in blood, and it is in letters of blood that its true history is written.”

Indeed, from its very beginning the Roman Catholic Church-State has been an “equal-opportunity” hater. It hates Jews; it hates independent Bible-believing Christian groups and associations; it hates Orthodox Christians (e.g., Greek, Russian, and Serb); it hates Muslims; and, it hates Protestants. Some folks who read this handout may now be saying: “The Roman Catholic Church has changed – and she now loves all the ‘separated brethren’ – and she even loves Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and people of all religions.” Well, that is what the Roman Catholic Church-State “says”; however, that kind of “talk” is simply sweet, ecumenical “honey” (i.e., sweet-sounding rhetoric) designed to lure all religions into a one-world religion headed by the Pope of Rome.

Despite Papal Rome’s sweet-sounding rhetoric, her actions and deeds over many centuries tell a totally different “story”. Instead of love for “separated brethren”, Jews, Muslims, etc., we instead find hate. Again, the Roman Catholic Church-State – Papal Rome – has indeed been an “equal-opportunity” hater, persecutor, torturer, and mass murderer – committing a multitude of heinous, barbaric “crimes against humanity”.

Papal persecution of its “competition” started almost from the very beginning of the Papacy. Here is but a small sampling of Papal hated, persecution, torture, and mass murder (hopefully in chronological order):

4th century – The Bishop of Rome and some of his secular and ecclesiastical friends (e.g., Augustine) begin to persecute the Bible-believing Donatists in North Africa. (The Donatists had refused to submit to a centralized ecclesiastical system.) Many of the Donatist leaders are executed; others are sent into exile.

Early 7th century – Roman Catholic authorities in Great Britain – with their secular allies – persecute the Bible-believing Celtic Christians in Britain and on the European continent. On one occasion 1200 British Celtic Christians are slaughtered by a pagan army at the instigation of Roman Catholic clergy.

7th century – The Bishop of Rome urges secular and ecclesiastical authorities to persecute the Bible-believing Paulicians in various locations in Italy and other parts of Europe.

1095 – Pope Urban II proclaims the First Crusade. Here is what historian Will Durant has written concerning this Papacy-instigated murder spree: “When in 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade, some Christians [Ed.: i.e., Roman Catholics] thought it desirable to kill the Jews in Europe before proceeding so far to fight Turks in Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon, having accepted the leadership of the crusade, announced that he would avenge the blood of Jesus upon the Jews…leaving not one of them alive; and his companions proclaimed their intention to kill all Jews who would not accept Christianity [Ed.: i.e., Roman Catholicism].”

1096 – Roman Catholic Crusaders slaughter half the Jews of Worms, Germany while passing through that city.

1098 – Roman Catholic Crusaders, sent on a “holy” mission by Pope Urban II, reach Antioch (a city in southern Turkey). The Roman Catholic Crusaders capture the city on June 3, 1098, and slaughter almost all of the inhabitants – men, women, and children – Muslims, Jews, and even some Christians of the Eastern Church!

1099 – Roman Catholic Crusaders, sent on a “holy” mission by Pope Urban II, reach Jerusalem. They take the city on July 15, 1099; they herd the Jews into a synagogue, and set it on fire. These Roman Catholic Crusaders butcher almost all of the city’s inhabitants – men, women, and children – Jews, Muslims, and probably even a few Christians of the Eastern Church! Up to 70,000 Muslims and Jews are massacred!

1171 – In response to a papal bull, Roman Catholic King Henry II of England starts a war against the Celtic Church in Ireland. Once the Celtic Church is destroyed, Roman Catholicism becomes the dominant religion.

1203-1808 – This is the “official” timeframe, according to some scholars, of the Roman Catholic Inquisition. Some historians estimate that up to 50 million lives are taken by this so-called “holy” Inquisition. Many thousands of human beings – made in the image of God – are roasted slowly to death at the stake!

1208-1226 – The “Albigensian Crusades” take place. In 1208 Pope Innocent III proclaims a crusade against the Bible-believing Albigensian Christians in southern France. Roman Catholic armies are sent to exterminate them. On July 22, 1209 Roman Catholic “crusaders” butcher approximately 20,000 men, women, and children at the French city of Beziers. In 1219 the Roman Catholic “crusaders” slaughter all the inhabitants (approx. 7000) – men, women, and children – of the market center of Marmande in western Languedoc (in southern France). The Albigensian Christians are eventually exterminated shortly after these “crusades” conclude!

1211 – Roman Catholic authorities burn at the stake approximately 80 Bible-believing Waldensian Christian men and women – made in the image of God – at Strasburg in Alsace (in northeastern France)!

1229 – The Roman Catholic Inquisition executes 32,000 Bible-believing Albigensian Christians – made in the image of God – at Toulouse, France – and confiscates all their property!

1231-33 – Roman Catholic authorities in Germany persecute Bible-believing Waldensian Christians.

1236 – Roman Catholic Crusaders slaughter Jews in the Anjou and Poitou regions of western France. Historian Will Durant tells us: “[Ed.: Roman Catholic Crusaders] invaded the Jewish settlements of Anjou and Poitou. …[Ed.: The Roman Catholic Crusaders] bade all Jews be baptized; when the Jews refused, the [Ed.: Roman Catholic] Crusaders trampled 3000 of them to death under their horses’ hoofs.”

1243 – All Jews in Belitz, Germany (near Berlin) are burned alive by Roman Catholics. According to historian Will Durant, their alleged crime was that “some of them had defiled a consecrated host”.

1348-49 – The Roman Catholic Church blames the Jews for the “Black Death” (probably the bubonic plague). Here is what Dave Hunt has written on page 267 of his book, “A Woman Rides the Beast” (1994), concerning this time in history: “From the time the popes ruled Rome, the Jews’ plight…was far more grievous than it had ever been at the hands of the pagan rulers. Pagans had blamed every disaster upon Christians. Now the Roman Catholic Church blamed all on the Jews. Accused of causing the ‘Black Death’, Jews [Ed.: made in the image of God] were rounded up and hanged, burned, and drowned by the thousands in revenge.”

c.1350-c.1500 – Roman Catholic authorities in England and Scotland persecute the Bible-believing Lollards. (Many Bible-believing Lollards are imprisoned; some are burned; many others are driven into exile!)

1389 – The Jewish community in Prague is accused of attacking a monk carrying a sacramental wafer (used in the Roman Catholic Mass). 3000 Jews in Prague are then surrounded by Roman Catholic mobs – and when the Jews – who are made in God’s image – refuse to be baptized (into Roman Catholicism), they are murdered!

1429 – Pope Martin V orders the King of Poland to exterminate the Christian Hussites in Bohemia!

1477 – Pope Sixtus IV organizes a crusade against the Waldensian Christians in southern France.

1481 – Kickoff of the “Spanish Inquisition”: Spanish State and Church authorities start an orgy of torture and burning people alive – called the Inquisition. Aimed initially and primarily at Jews and Muslims, the Inquisition also targets those Christians whose beliefs are not completely in line with the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrines and practices. In the first two years (1481-1483), at least 2000 individuals are burned alive!

1492 – Up through this year the Spanish Inquisition has driven 500,000 Jews out of Spain!

1540-1570 – The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church sends a number of armies into southeastern France and surrounding areas that succeed in butchering at least 900,000 Bible-believing Waldensian Christians – men, women, elderly, and children made in the image of God – during this thirty-year period!

1550-1560 – 250,000 Dutch Protestants are exterminated via torture, hanging, and burning! (Roman Catholic King of Spain Philip II had sent 10,000 Spanish Roman Catholic troops, led by the Duke of Alva, to the Netherlands, in accordance with the Edict of 1550, to stamp out Protestantism there.)

1555-1558 – Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England (“Bloody Mary”) and Roman Catholic Cardinal Reginald Pole preside over a mini-Inquisition in England that sees almost 300 Christians burned at the stake!

1572 – A massacre of Protestant French Huguenots by Roman Catholics occurs in France. (The massacre starts in Paris on St. Bartholomew’s Day.) At least 18,000 – possibly up to 30,000 – Protestants are butchered!

1588 – Roman Catholic Spain – with promises of funding and support from Pope Sixtus V – sends the Spanish Armada to bring England back under the temporal power of Papal Rome, and to destroy Protestantism in England. Author James Heron tells us this in his book “A Short History of Puritanism”: “The mighty fleet was manned by 9000 sailors…a force of 21,855 soldiers…and an immense company of Jesuits, friars, and priests to stimulate the soldiers, and to convert the English…with many officers of the Inquisition armed with instruments of torture…” Almighty GOD alone knows how many men and women were spared cruel burnings at the stake, being racked, and being tortured in a myriad of ways because of the bravery and skill of the English seamen – and because of the storm that destroyed so many Spanish ships! (Might GOD have sent that storm?)

1618-1648 – The Thirty Years’ War takes place. This bloody religious war was planned, instigated, and orchestrated by the Roman Catholic Jesuit Order and its agents in an attempt to exterminate all Protestants – men, women, and children made in the image of God – from off the face of the European continent.

1641 – The bloody massacre of Protestants by Roman Catholics occurs in Ireland. Approximately 150,000 Protestants are butchered from 1641 through 1649. (Priests urged Roman Catholic mobs to commit cruel acts!)

1685 – Roman Catholic French King Louis XIV, at the urging of his father-confessor, Jesuit Pere La Chaise, revokes the “Edict of Nantes” that had granted religious liberty to all Frenchmen. He then orders his dragoons to slaughter the French Protestant Huguenots. 500,000 Protestants (men, women, and children) are butchered!

1914 – World War I (WWI) starts in the Balkans. Papal Rome’s involvement in fomenting WWI has been well documented by author Edmond Paris in his book, “The Secret History of the Jesuits”. Paris stated: “The public is practically unaware of the overwhelming responsibility carried by the Vatican and its Jesuits in the starting of two world wars – a situation which may be explained in part by the gigantic finances at the disposition of the Vatican and its Jesuits, giving them power in so many spheres, especially since the last conflict.”

1917 – The Russian Revolution takes place. The Bolsheviks (Communists) seize power in Russia – funded by wealthy Knights of Malta in the United States and Europe. Later, two Jesuit-trained thugs, Joseph Stalin and Roman Catholic Cardinal Gregory Agagianian, oversee the Soviet Gulag slave-labor system. (Both Stalin and Agagianian had been trained by Jesuits who taught at the Byzantine Rite seminary in Tiflis, Soviet Georgia.) Millions of Russian Orthodox Christians are butchered by a vicious, totalitarian Police State! (Remember, the Papacy has long hated Orthodox Christians, and has slaughtered them whenever and wherever it could.)

Approx. 1938 to 1945 – The Jewish holocaust occurs in Nazi-Fascist-controlled Europe. Up to six million Jews, made in God’s image, are murdered and starved to death! Roman Catholic involvement in this holocaust is extensive. Roman Catholic Monsignor Ludwig Kaas (a close confidant of Pope Pius XII) and German Roman Catholic Knight of Malta Franz von Papen are two of the top players involved in putting Adolf Hitler into power. The German Roman Catholic Center Party’s endorsement of, and unanimous vote for, the Enabling Act of March 1933 is orchestrated by Roman Catholic Monsignor Ludwig Kaas, and is crucial, giving Adolf Hitler the 2/3s majority he needs to assume dictatorial powers in Germany. A number of Roman Catholic priests put on the black uniforms of the Nazi SS. The Vatican signs Concordats with Nazi Germany and with Fascist Italy. Roman Catholics are installed as puppet dictators in a number of Fascist countries. For example, in Slovakia, Jesuit Monsignor Josef Tiso is installed as dictator. Roman Catholic Knights of Malta head up three powerful intelligence agencies during World War II (William Donovan heads the American OSS – which later becomes the CIA; German General Reinhard Gehlen heads Nazi Intelligence on the eastern front; and Russian Anton Turkul heads Soviet Intelligence, and uses Jesuit priests for his couriers). By using various elements within the warring factions, the Vatican is able to ensure the slaughter of large numbers of its favorite targets: Jews, Protestants (in northern Germany and in Prussia), and Orthodox Christians! At the end of the war, the Vatican helps many thousands of Nazi and Fascist war criminals to escape via the “Vatican Ratlines”, hiding them in convents and monasteries in Europe until they can safely escape to such countries as the USA, Argentina, etc.

1941-1945 – The “Vatican’s holocaust” occurs in Fascist Croatia. Though primarily aimed at Serb Orthodox Christians, much smaller numbers of Jews and gypsies are also targeted. This religious genocide is carried out by Roman Catholic clergymen – mainly Franciscan priests, monks, and friars! Roman Catholic Croatian dictator Ante Pavelic teams up with high-ranking Roman Catholic prelates, such as Jesuit Monsignor Aloysius Stepinac (Archbishop of Zagreb) and Jesuit Monsignor Ivan Saric (Archbishop of Sarajevo), to use Roman Catholic Ustashi paramilitary units to torture and butcher up to 1 million innocent Serb Orthodox Christian men, women, and children! This genocide includes the most brutal forms of torture, forced conversions, burning people alive, raping and murdering girls and women, impaling young children alive on stakes, gouging out the eyes of victims to make necklaces, starving children to death, burying victims alive, crucifying Orthodox priests to wooden doors, etc. Roman Catholic clergymen not only frequently advise the Roman Catholic Ustashi paramilitary units on how to torture and murder, but also actually participate in the savagery!

1960s – Francis Cardinal Spellman (Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York) and Pope Pius XII install fanatical Roman Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem as President of South Vietnam. Diem’s two Roman Catholic brothers fill important offices in South Vietnam as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hue and the Chief of [the Secret] Police. These three fanatical Roman Catholic brothers start a mini-Inquisition in South Vietnam against the majority Buddhists. (Roman Catholics make up only about 10% of the population of S. Vietnam.) The result: the USA gets heavily involved in this war because Cardinal Spellman and Pope Pius XII – and some of their Roman Catholic friends in America – push the USA into this war! Avro Manhattan, author of numerous books, tells us: “The role played by the Vatican in the Vietnam War (1956-1976) was not only important, it was decisive. …Since without the Vatican such a war would have never occurred.” Thus Pope Pius XII and Francis Cardinal Spellman are responsible for the deaths of over 58,000 Americans in Vietnam!

Again, remember that the above information represents but a small sampling of Papal Rome’s hatred, torture, and mass murder. In view of all this Papal wickedness, which included slowly roasting at the stake men and women made in God’s image, can the Roman Catholic “Church” possibly be called “Christian”? No! This “Church” bears no resemblance to true, Biblical Christianity – and its popes, and most of its higher-level prelates, bear no resemblance to Jesus Christ and His apostles! This system of pure evil must be exposed!