The official looking passenger aboard the vessel entering the harbor at Callao carried under his arm a royal document given into his care by the authority of the ‘Holy Office’. ‘The Holy Office’ I am referring to is also known as ‘The Spanish Inquisition.’

As the vessel dropped anchor and came to a stop the flag designed in the colors of Philip 11, King of Spain ceased to announce its’ ownership. For a short while, the horror and terror about to befall the local inhabitants remained in the visitor’s portfolio.

The visitor’s name is Servan de Cerezuela and the document he is about to present and enforce upon the inhabitants is a campaign of heartless domination and intimidation that has reigned throughout the so-called “Christian” lands since the 13th Century. During those dark and fearful days no-one dared to discuss, question or disagree with the Church. I shudder to think of the torture I and others would have undergone at their hands. Whether one agrees with the motives and methods of The Inquisition or not it remains a cornerstone of the original legal codes upon which modern society is founded.

The author Heinrich Heine wrote, “Where they burn books, they will burn human beings too.”

As late as 1908, this same said Inquisition operated under the title The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition. Today, year 2022 it is referred to as The Congregation For The Doctrine Of Faith. The activities of this group reflect the attitudes and prejudices of tribunals that existed eight hundred years ago. Recently, there were official transcripts of interrogations conducted at Guantanamo released for public viewing. It was reported that they resembled the interrogations of the Inquisition. Even the guides and advice manuals given to the Intelligence Agencies and Police Departments were almost identical.

What remains controversial are the questions concerning the numbers who were ordered to their deaths by the Inquisition.