--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb wrote: (snip) > I was never Catholic, and don't know much about Pope > Benedict, other than his uncanny resemblance to the > Sith Emperor from Star Wars :-), and what was said > about him before he was elected Pope, which was that > he was one of the most feared men in Catholicism. I > do know that he was the person who brought *back* the > Inquisition to the Church, after it had finally been > abolished after 600 years, and led it for many years.
For the record, this is not true. The Inquisition has been in continuous operation since it was established in 1542. It was never abolished (nor has it been around for 600 years!). It has undergone a couple of name changes; since 1965 it's been called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Of course it doesn't burn anybody at the stake these days. Ratzinger was named Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation by Pope John Paul II in 1981.
