The International Seminar on The Dominicans and the Inquisition
I was asked last year to work as Secretary General to the IV International Seminar on the Dominicans and the Inquisition". The Seminar took place March 4-8, 2009, on the campus of our Pontifical University in Rome, the Angelicum. I am very grateful to Arturo Bernal, OP (President of the Institute) for the opportunity to have such an invaluable experience, and I would like to share briefly with you what has been done at these seminars over the past seven years.
The General Chapter in Bologna requested of the Historical Institute of the Order a study on the involvement of "some Dominicans in the Inquisition." For this reason, the Dominican Historical Institute has called upon scholars from around the world to attend to the demands made by the General Chapter in Bologna. The process has taken seven long years in which the different Seminars have approached the matter from diverse but complementary perspectives. The first was held in 2002; it considered the involvement of Dominicans in the medieval inquisitions. The second was held in 2004, when the institute approached the study of the involvement of the Dominicans in the Inquisitions of the Iberian Peninsula and their American counterparts. The third Seminar was held in 2006. I was invited to help for the first time. For the third Seminar, the different Scholars delved into the question of our involvement in the Roman Inquisition. Finally the fourth and last Seminar was held this year in Rome. For the final meeting of this momentous historical work, the different scholars were asked to consider the nature of our involvement in the Inquisitions in relation to literature, the arts and theology.
This final seminar marked the end of a serious and ultimate study of this particular chapter in our history. The Bologna chapter asked about the involvement of "some of the brothers in the inquisition" and the response from the seminars is the involvement of many friars over the centuries, as the inquisitions were instituted and executed in the old and new world.
I am convinced that a response to this study must be done carefully and only formulated after a thorough and reflective reading of the results from its findings. The question is highly complex and cannot be brushed over by a simplistic and perhaps irresponsible dismissal composed of a simple statement of regret and a request for forgiveness. We are the friars of the Order of Preachers; we must approach the truth without fear. Much can be learned from these many years of research, both for the good of the Order and for the well being of the Church and its mission in the world. That is the new challenge before us. A great part of our memory now lies collected in the many pages of the four volumes containing the proceedings from these seminars. We can now look into this chapter of our past and reflect, so as to move forward into the future having learned its lessons, not in hesitant shame or overcome by the often commonly held and highly ideological visions of these particular events, but with the truth at hand. We can face up to our guilt and also learn what there was of positive in our contribution, and then, with courage and with the strength and the wisdom that come from lessons learned in life, we can approach our mission for salvation with a new breath and ardent love for the kingdom of God.
I was engaged as Secretary General to the final Seminar. My work was to assist the president of the institute in the planning and execution of the event. I was asked to assist in communicating with all the/participating scholars, in the collection of all the materials involved, and in the administration of the Seminar while it was being held. The latter involved the task of assisting in the administration of the Seminar financially, technically and in all practical matters. It called for all the modest organizational skills that I've collected and learned over my years in the Order. The experience was rich, exhausting and unforgettable. I loved it!
Written by fr. Marcelo, Solorzano, OP
