General Pinochet Analysis

Ernesto Guevara has earned the praise of many who claim him as the champion of freedom against tyranny and the standard-bearer for the “just revolution”. But Che has also been condemned for his violent and cruel nature, which is prevalent the many executions that he carried out during his active years in revolutionary activity. Che personally executed his own soldiers if they were suspected of anti-revolutionary sentiment. According to Che’s personal diary, the first execution that he carried out was that of Eutímio Guerra. “Che inspected the entry and exit wounds, very much the doctor, writing down that he had slept fine with what he had done.” (The True Story 22:50) Che had no remorse for executing someone who he had been close to for the past two years. Given the circumstances, an execution of a suspected spy may not be cause for remorse, but the executions that follow the fall of the Batista regime were anything but just. The trials conjured up by Fidel and Che in order to appease the masses were for show, much like the Moscow trials of Stalin’s great purge. If deemed guilty by the judges, who did not deliberate at great lengths to decide one’s guilt or innocence, the accused would be pushed up against one of the firing squad walls and shot on the spot. There were no appeals and no arguments. When asked if there was proof to

In addition, Amaru strived to achieve independence for indigenous Peruvians, and his Catholicism not only helped him persevere, but it also helped him explain the motivations for his actions. One of the major setbacks that Amaru faced during his rebellion was his excommunication from the Church. Since his religion was such a fundamental aspect of his life, one might think that his excommunication would cause him to lose motivation and prevent him from successfully completing his rebellion. However, Amaru’s wife revealed during an interrogation session that her husband believed his excommunication was just one of many steps of God’s plan for both Amaru and his wife.

The arrival of the Inquisition was swift and powerful, the decline of the Inquisition was drawn out and pathetic. Laws slowly began to be abolished around the eighteenth century. The distinction between Old and New Christians was no longer legally binding, the Moriscos had all but been erased from Spain, and Judaism had no influence. The job was done. Over hundreds of years and a multitude of rulers hellbent on eradicating religious diversity, a mild amount of success had been achieved. As the decades rolled on, however, rulers became more and more disinterested with the inquisitorial rule. The looming French Revolution severely hurt the seemingly dormant Inquisition. The Revolution brought new condemnation for the movement, and more specifically, condemnation for the unnecessarily violent actions of the church. The Inquisition was truly crippled early in the nineteenth century as a Constitution was being constructed by Rafael Riego, an Asturian battalion commander. Through this, and various civil wars and revolts within the nineteenth century, the Spanish Inquisition was officially demolished. The movement that had thousands tortured, imprisoned, and murdered had finally

The synod of Rome in 1075 saw different bishop be warned and some even deposed for their actions. The accounts written about this synod reveal how the authors, Berthold and Bernold of St. Blasien, saw bishops and clergymen who went against the papal reforms. Pope Gregory used the weapon of deposing and excommunicating clergymen to enforce his papal reforms. These weapons meant that the person deposed or excommunicated must not receive of any sacraments and no one must willing follow this person and their rule. Gregory wanted to encourage that if a member of the church committed a crime of simony then they aren’t an actual bishop or clergymen who could carry out the sacraments. Berthold and Bernold both adopted his viewpoint and opinions in regards to clergymen who act against the papal reform. Berthold would become his biggest supporter, believing Gregory had God-like powers in regards to cleaning the Catholic Church and that he had every right to do it. Berthold explains, “Strove to clear the field of the lord properly with the authentic axes of catholic and apostolic discipline”. The language Berthold uses implies that Gregory is within his right and power to clean the “field of the lord” with the “authentic axe”. Berthold’s description shows that he supported Gregory in his mission to cleanse the church of corrupt

He executed and exiled many people for following the faith of christianity and not protestantism

During 1973, Chilean Congress and Judiciary took a stand against Allende and it was claimed that Allende’s governmental rule broke the Chilean constitution. After the battle with congress, the military stormed Allende’s palace and killed Allende while armed. In modern times, millions of people were inspired by Allende’s road to socialism and believers found it necessary to argue on the lesson but, furthermore on Allende’s behalf. On the other hand, the Chilean Communist Party thought the presidential rule of

The Inquisition started because the Catholic Church was worried that the devil was stealing people’s souls. To fight the devil the church founded a new court. The Inquisition, were those priests whose job it was to find and punish anyone who was against the church or working with the devil. They called people who worked against the church a heretic and any action against the church was heresy. The inquisition could place people under arrest and torture them until they confessed to heresy; even if u weren’t and heresy but they suspected that you were they still torture you. But, if you confess right away before torture, will be punished, but you can redeem yourself. If you didn’t confess you were torture until you did.

The tragedies of the civil war in El Salvador brought focus to the many issues of oppression, under-representation, and inequality apparent amongst the Salvadoran working class during the later twentieth century. The outbreak of the war began much like civil wars in neighboring countries, consisting of the lower class demanding land and policy reformations, as elites feared the uprisings would result in socialist-geared politics that jeopardized their status. Amidst the fighting between the two social classes, the Catholic Church, as a whole, maintained a somewhat neutrality status and refused to publically support one group over the other. Thus, much opposition to the

One important indicator on the Catholic Church’s stance on Liberation Theology and general social activism in Latin America will be to see if Archbishop Oscar Romero is accepted into sainthood. The iconic and controversial religious leader worked tirelessly to help the lower-class in El Salvador. His teachings and beliefs that the marginalized peasants should be treated justly made him a living legend among his countrymen and isolated him from the nation’s corrupt elites. Although he never specifically condoned violence, his sermons played no small part in fomenting a bloody peasant uprising and civil war that raged for over a decade. In the last few years, a strong effort has been made to canonize Romero. Although he is revered not only in his own country but throughout the world, there exist a few issues that could possibly preclude him for becoming a saint. He is still strongly disliked by the vast majority of the wealthy and powerful ruling class of El Salvador, he, indirectly and inadvertently, helped bring about a violent conflict that ravaged his nation and, perhaps most importantly, his canonization may appear to be a carte blanche validation of Liberation Theology and the Marxist uprisings that were often associated with the movement. The canonization of Oscar Romero will redefine the seminal ideal of a modern-day saint and could quite

The Cristeros that were Catholic were deeply devoted to their faith. In fact, in 2000 Pope St. John Paul II canonized twenty-five Cristeros and Pope Francis canonized another Cristero just last year in 2016. In addition, Pope St. John Paul II also beatified two Cristeros, and Pope Benedict XVI beatified twelve more Cristeros. Almost all those beatified or canonized were also martyrs who died for their faith. One of the martyrs of the Cristero war was Father Rodrigo Aguilar Alemán. Rodrigo was captured by federal soldiers in 1927 when he was burning a list of seminary students to protect the students from the government. After being arrested he was sentence to execution by hanging. As he was being hanged his executioners asked him several times “who lives” wanting to hear him say the government of Mexico. However, Rodrigo said "Long live Christ the King and Blessed Mary of Guadalupe!" each time until he died. This is this just one example showing how devoted most of the Cristeros

Even during the Early church, when death was much more common, some Catholics fought against the death penalty; one such example the Athenagoras of Athens written in 133 A.D claims “we cannot endure even to see a man put to death, though justly. . . . We, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles. How, then, when we do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put a man to death?.” However, many Catholic leaders have supported the death penalty, St. Thomas Aquinas himself stated “The death penalty was not merely permitted by God: for certain crimes it was required by God.” Nevertheless, over the years the Church has become more and more uncompromising in its beliefs against the Death Penalty. Starting with Pope John Paul II a Catholic Pope who served from the late 70’s to early 2000’s creating the Evangelium Vitae which asserts ¨that [the state] ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.¨ In this doctrine, Pope John Paul II clearly and definitively makes the Catholic Church’s negative response

While with certain institutions when a problem arises, it is swept under the carpet and ignored, Pope Francis did the exact opposite and recognizes Pelagianism as a issue within the Church. The Holy Father shines the light back on this heresy and presents how Christians today are not knowingly having beliefs that are Pelagianistic. To help clear confusion, Pope Francis shows us how we can’t solely rely on ourselves for salvation and that we can always find help through God. We have to remember that if Jesus did not die for our sins, we would not have the chance to enter Heaven. So if we take God out of salvation, then why would have Jesus died to save us from our

The word “inquisition” means to examine. Inquisitors would “examine” suspected Heretics, people whose ideas do not match those of the Roman Catholic Church, and punish them accordingly. This included torture and burning. The great inquisition movement that took place in Spain, or Hispania as it was called before Spain united. It was called The Spanish Inquisition. It took place for approximately five hundred years, from the late 15th century to mid 19th century. Many ironic elements were involved in the history of the Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition lasted longer than any other preceding it, and was the most cruel, bloodthirsty, and festive of all. The objective of the inquisition, in its early state, was to

Corruption in the Catholic Church was real; the Church has always had a strong present in Mexico since the beginnings. For instance, those in the strong circle of the Church who are not part of the clergy have always been men of power who hold swayed over the government. They have passed laws that benefit the Church, such as the example I pointed out before of Title 1. Precisely, for this reason, was why the Mexican liberals hated the clergy. The main problem and reason why the anti-clerical liberals wanted to remove the clergy in Government was “Fueros”, which means corporate immunities. For the Church, corporate immunities meant that if there was a transgression in the clerical power they were subjected to a different form of justice than the Mexican people. The Liberals saw it as the highest form a corruption because basically those part of the clergy circle who were men of power could get away with corruption. Laws like the example that was given were what ultimately what triggered the anti-clerical liberals to fight back, and that is why by 1861 when Benito Juarez re-established the Mexican government. Once Benito Juarez establishes the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857, the Catholic Church was slowly starting to lose the control it had over the Government.

The Pinochet dictatorship oppressed people with Powerlessness and Violence, and Chileans resisted with Direct Action. For example, according to The Dictatorship and The Disappeared, “The institution and practices that guarantee citizens the right to conduct their economic, social, and political affairs without fear of government retaliation. Election, representative bodies, free speech, and the right to protest vanished” (Eshet 13). In other words, Pinochet took away the citizens rights. As a result of this they were all powerlessness because they could not do anything like protest or have free speech. Another type of oppression is violence, According to The Dictatorship and The Disappeared, “I didn’t understand the importance of what had happened.