“Is Roman Catholicism Based upon Lies and Forgeries?”

(A Great Quote from Peter De Rosa – This sheet prepared by Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI &TTT)

February 16, 2009 // All emphasis is mine unless otherwise noted. // Website: www.toughissues.org

“…For seven centuries, the Greeks had called [Ed.: Papal] Rome the home of forgeries. Whenever they tried talking with [Ed.: Papal] Rome, the popes brought out forged documents, even papal additions to Council documents, which the Greeks, naturally, had never seen.

[Pope] Gregory [Ed.: VII; pope: 1073-1085] went way beyond the ‘Donation of Constantine’. He had a whole school of forgers under his very nose, turning out document after document, with the papal seal of approval, to cater for his every need. [Ed.: Pope Gregory VII made some absolutist claims when he became pope, e.g., that popes had the power to dethrone emperors and kings. He needed documentation to back up those absolutist claims - so new forgeries were added to the old forgeries.]

…Pope Gregory [VII] (and, later, Urban II) might require justification for some action against a prince or bishop. Very well, these prelates [Ed.: in the “school of forgers”] literally produced [Ed.: i.e., manufactured; forged] the appropriate document. No need for research; it was all done on the premises.

Many documents were touched up to make them say the opposite of what they said originally. Some of these earlier documents were themselves forgeries. Hildebrand’s [Ed.: i.e., Pope Gregory VII’s] school [Ed.: of forgers] treated all papers, forged or genuine, with a completely impartial dishonesty.

…This instant method of inventing history was marvelously successful, especially as the forgeries were at once inserted into canon law. By innumerable subtle changes, they made Catholicism seem changeless. They turned ‘today’ into ‘always was and always will be’, which even now, contrary to the findings of history, is the peculiar stamp of Catholicism.

Thus was accomplished the quietest and longest-lasting of all revolutions: it was all done on paper. It would not have worked in an era of universal literacy, printing, photocopying and carbon dating; it worked without a hitch in an age of rare manuscripts, inept scholarship, and when even some emperors could not read and write.

…The most influential of all forgeries was the ninth-century Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals…[Ed.: which] consisted of 115 documents, purportedly written by early bishops of Rome, beginning with Clement (88-97). A further 125 documents had forged additions which increased the power and prestige of the papacy. According to the forger, the early popes forbade all commerce with an excommunicated person. …In 1078, Gregory [VII], knowing there was NO precedent for it, extended this principle to emperors and kings…

…The documents forged in [Ed.: Papal] Rome at this time were systematized in the mid-1100s at Bologna by Gratian, a Benedictine monk. His ‘Decretum’, or Code of Canon Law, was easily the most influential book ever written by a Catholic. It was peppered with three centuries of forgeries and conclusions drawn from them, with his own fictional additions. Of the 324 passages he quotes from popes of the first four centuries, only eleven are genuine.

Looking further ahead to the thirteenth century, the ‘Decretum’ was Thomas Aquinas’ source-book for quotes from the Fathers and popes when he came to write his masterly ‘Summa Theologica’, the second most renowned work by a Catholic.

…History became a minor branch of theology where it has remained ever since. After all, even history cannot contradict infallible truth. Hence in the formative years of Roman Catholic Christianity, all discussion was stifled by recourse to ‘authorities’ that were instantly fabricated. Development came not spontaneously but was forced into pre-established patterns. The traditional subjection of popes to General Councils in matters of faith and morals was reversed. Disputed and sometimes ludicrous views became established dogmas; partial views were consecrated as timeless and irreversible Catholic teaching.

It is no small thing to manufacture history.” – Peter De Rosa (“Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy”; 1988; Pages 59-61)

(For more information on Roman Catholicism, please see my articles, “Roman Catholic Church” and “Urgent Appeal for Roman Catholics”, on Internet website www.toughissues.org.)