Official religion of Qatar. Religion in Qatar. Government and political system

Qatar's population is 67.7% Muslim, 13.8% Hindu, 13.8% Christian, 3.1% Buddhist, 0.7% other faiths and 0.9% non-religious.

Islam

In Qatar, the Muslim population is dominated by Sunnis over Shiites. The government of Qatar has a Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Islam in Qatar is the state religion. Teaching Islam is mandatory for Muslims in government-funded schools.

Christianity

Hinduism and Buddhism

Immigrants working in Qatar from India and Southeast Asia predominantly practice Hinduism and Buddhism.

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On September 8, a very important officer entered the barn to see the prisoners, judging by the respect with which the guards treated him. This officer, probably a staff officer, with a list in his hands, made a roll call of all the Russians, calling Pierre: celui qui n "avoue pas son nom [the one who does not say his name]. And, indifferently and lazily looking at all the prisoners, he ordered the guard it is proper for the officer to dress and tidy them up before leading them to the marshal. An hour later a company of soldiers arrived, and Pierre and thirteen others were led to the Maiden's Field. The day was clear, sunny after the rain, and the air was unusually clean. Smoke did not settle down as in that day when Pierre was taken out of the guardhouse of Zubovsky Val; smoke rose in columns in the clear air. The fires of the fires were nowhere to be seen, but columns of smoke rose from all sides, and all of Moscow, everything that Pierre could see, was one conflagration. On all sides one could see vacant lots with stoves and chimneys and occasionally the charred walls of stone houses. Pierre looked closely at the fires and did not recognize the familiar quarters of the city. In some places, surviving churches could be seen. The Kremlin, undestroyed, loomed white from afar with its towers and Ivan the Great. Nearby, the dome of the Novodevichy Convent glittered merrily, and the bell of the Gospel was especially loudly heard from there. This announcement reminded Pierre that it was Sunday and the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. But it seemed that there was no one to celebrate this holiday: everywhere there was devastation from the fire, and among the Russian people there were only occasionally ragged, frightened people who hid at the sight of the French.
Obviously, the Russian nest was ravaged and destroyed; but behind the destruction of this Russian order of life, Pierre unconsciously felt that over this ruined nest his own, completely different, but firm French order had been established. He felt this from the sight of those soldiers walking cheerfully and cheerfully, in regular rows, who escorted him with other criminals; he felt this from the sight of some important French official in a double carriage, driven by a soldier, driving towards him. He felt this from the cheerful sounds of regimental music coming from the left side of the field, and especially he felt and understood it from the list that the visiting French officer read this morning, calling out the prisoners. Pierre was taken by some soldiers, taken to one place or another with dozens of other people; it seemed that they could forget about him, mix him up with others. But no: his answers given during the interrogation came back to him in the form of his name: celui qui n "avoue pas son nom. And under this name, which Pierre was afraid of, he was now being led somewhere, with undoubted confidence written on them faces that all the other prisoners and he were the ones who were needed, and that they were being taken where they were needed. Pierre felt like an insignificant sliver caught in the wheels of an unknown to him, but correctly functioning machine.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members perish rather than your whole body being cast into hell” (Matthew 18:9)

The pages of TOPWAR have told more than once or twice about cruel religious wars that were unleashed in the name of God and for His glory. But perhaps the most telling example is the Albigensian Wars in the South of France, launched to eradicate the Cathar heresy. Who they are, why Catholic Christians considered them heretics, and they themselves called themselves true Christians, and also about the Cathar castles that have survived to this day is our story today...
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THE CATHARI HERESY (part 1)

“There is a time for everything, and a time
of every thing under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die...
a time to hug and a time to shy away
hugs...
a time for war and a time for peace" (Ecclesiastes 3:2-8)

Let's start with the fact that Christianity has long been split into two large movements (in this case, you can’t even remember the numerous sects: there were and are so many of them!) - Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and both of them in the past considered each other each other as heretics, and some, especially zealous believers, consider their “opponents” to be such even now! This schism was long-standing: for example, the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople cursed each other back in 1054! However, differences of churches on the issue of a number of church dogmas and, above all, such an important dogma as, for example, the Creed, took place at the beginning of the 9th century, and the initiator of such a disagreement was, oddly enough, not the Pope or the Patriarch, and the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne. We are talking about a theological dispute regarding the issue of “Filioque” - “Filioque” (Latin filioque - “and the Son”).

The Gospel of John clearly speaks of the Holy Spirit as coming from the Father and being sent by the Son. Therefore, the First Council of Nicaea, back in 352, adopted the Creed, subsequently approved by the Council of Constantinople in 381, according to which the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. But in the 6th century, at the Toledo local council, “in order to better explain the dogma,” the addition was first introduced into the Creed: “and the Son” (Filioque), as a result of which the following phrase appeared: “I believe ... in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son." Charlemagne, who had enormous influence over the popes, insisted that this addition be made to the Creed. And it was precisely this that became one of the reasons for desperate church disputes, which ultimately led to the split of the Christian church into Catholic and Orthodox. The Orthodox Creed reads like this: “I believe... And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, Who proceeds from the Father”... That is, the Orthodox Church is guided by the decisions of the First Council of Nicaea. One of the fundamental sacred celebrations of Christians is also different - the Eucharist (Greek - expression of gratitude), otherwise - communion, which is held in memory of the last meal hosted by Christ together with his disciples. In this sacrament, an Orthodox Christian, under the guise of bread and wine, partakes of the very body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, while Catholics receive communion with unleavened bread, and Orthodox Christians with leavened bread.

Everything in the world is afraid of time, the last Qatar burned out in the flames of a fire a long time ago, but the “Cross of Toulouse” can still be seen on the wall of a house in the Carcassonne fortress.

But in addition to Catholics and Orthodox Christians who considered each other heretics, separated at that time from each other by the peculiarities of nature, even on the territory of Europe, within, for example, France and Germany, there were many religious movements that differed significantly from traditional Christianity according to the Catholic model. Especially a lot at the beginning of the 12th century. There were such Christians in Languedoc, a region in the south of France. It was here that a very powerful movement of the Cathars arose (who, by the way, had other names, but this is the most famous, so we will focus on it), whose religion differed significantly from traditional Christianity.

However, they began to be called Cathars (which in Greek means “pure”) only later, and their most common name at first was “Albigensian heretics,” after the name of the city of Albi, which was given to them by adherents of Bernard of Clairvaux, who preached in the cities of Toulouse and Albi in 1145 They did not call themselves that, because they believed that they were the real Christians! Following Jesus Christ, who said: “I am the good shepherd,” they called themselves “bon hommes” - that is, “good people.” It was about a dualistic religion of Eastern origin, recognizing two creative divine beings - one good, which is closely connected with the spiritual world, and the other evil, associated with life and the material world.

The Cathars rejected any compromise with the world, did not recognize marriage and procreation, justified suicide and abstained from any food of animal origin, with the exception of fish. This was their small elite, which included both men and women from the aristocracy and the wealthy bourgeoisie. It also supplied cadres of clergy - preachers and bishops. There were even “houses of heretics” - real monasteries and nunneries. But the majority of the faithful led a less strict lifestyle. If a person received a unique sacrament just before his death - consolamentum (Latin - “consolation”) - and if he agrees to leave this life, then he will be saved.

City of Albi. This is where it all began, this is where the “Alibigei heresy” came from. Now it looks like this: an ancient arched bridge, the bulk of the Cathedral-Fortress of St. Cecilia in Albi, built after the defeat of the Cathars, as a reminder of the power of the mother church. Here every stone is impregnated. If you have the opportunity, take a look at this city...

The Cathars did not believe in either hell or heaven, or rather, they believed that hell is the life of people on earth, that confessing to priests is an empty matter, and that prayer in church is tantamount to prayer in an open field. For the Cathars, the cross was not a symbol of faith, but an instrument of torture, supposedly in ancient Rome people were crucified on it. Souls, in their opinion, were forced to move from one body to another and could not return to God, since the Catholic Church showed them the wrong way to salvation. But by believing, so to speak, “in the right direction,” that is, by following the commandments of the Cathars, any soul can be saved.

The Cathars taught that since the world is imperfect, only the chosen ones can observe all the commandments of their religion, and everyone else should only follow their instructions, without binding themselves with the burden of fasting and prayer. The main thing was to receive “consolation” from one of the chosen ones, or “perfect” ones, before death, and so, until the deathbed, no religious morality of the believer mattered. Since the world is so hopelessly bad, the Cathars believed, then no bad deed will be worse than another. Again, simply wonderful faith for knights - something like living “according to concepts,” but not according to the law, since in “hell any law is bad.”

What the Cathars instructed their flock in can be imagined from the examples that have come down to us in the descriptions of Catholic priests: for example, one peasant went to the “good people” to ask if he could eat meat when true Christians were fasting? And they answered him that meat food defiles the mouth equally on both fasting and fasting days. “But you, peasant, have nothing to worry about. Go in peace!” - the “perfect” ones consoled him and, of course, such parting words could not but reassure him. Returning to the village, he told what the “perfect” ones taught him: “Since the perfect people can’t do anything, it means that for us, imperfect ones, everything is possible” - and the whole village began to eat meat during Lent!

Naturally, the Catholic abbots were horrified by such “sermons” and assured that the Cathars were true worshipers of Satan, and accused them of the fact that, in addition to eating meat during Lent, they also indulge in usury, theft, murder, perjury and all other carnal things. vices. At the same time, they sin with great enthusiasm and confidence; they are convinced that they do not need either confession or repentance. It is enough for them, according to their faith, to read the “Our Father” and receive communion of the Holy Spirit before death - and they are all “saved.” It was believed that they take any oath and immediately break it, because their main commandment is this: “Swear and bear false witness, but do not divulge secrets!”

The Cathars wore an image of a bee on their buckles and buttons, which symbolized the mystery of fertilization without physical contact. Denying the cross, they deified the pentagon, which was for them a symbol of eternal diffusion - dispersion, atomization of matter and the human body. By the way, their stronghold - the castle of Montsegur - was precisely shaped like a pentagon, diagonally 54 meters, width 13 meters. For the Cathars, the Sun was a symbol of Good, so Montsegur seemed to be at the same time their solar temple. Its walls, doors, windows, and embrasures were oriented according to the sun, and in such a way that just by observing the sunrise on the day of the summer solstice, one could calculate its sunrise on any other days. Well, and, of course, there was the assertion that there is a secret underground passage in the castle, which, along the way, branches into many underground passages, permeates all the nearby Pyrenees.

This was a pessimistic faith, divorced from earthly life, but it received a fairly wide response, primarily because it allowed the feudal lords to reject the earthly and moral power of the clergy. The scale of influence of this heresy is evidenced by the fact that the own mother of Bernard-Roger de Roquefort, Bishop of Carcassonne since 1208, wore “perfect” clothes, his brother Guillaume was one of the most ardent Cathar lords, and the other two brothers were supporters of the Cathar faith ! Qatari churches stood directly opposite Catholic cathedrals. With such support from those in power, it quickly spread to the regions of Toulouse, Albi and Carcassonne, where the most important was the Count of Toulouse, who ruled the lands between the Garonne and the Rhone. However, his power did not extend directly to many fiefs, and he had to rely on the power of other vassals, such as his brother-in-law Raymond Roger Trancavel, the Viscount of Béziers and Carcassonne, or the allied King of Aragon or the Count of Barcelona.

Modern reconstruction of Montsegur Castle.

Since many of their vassals were themselves heretics or sympathized with heretics, these lords were unable or unwilling to play the role of Christian princes defending the faith in their lands. The Count of Toulouse informed the Pope and the King of France about this, the church sent missionaries there, and, in particular, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who in 1142 studied the state of affairs in the Provençal dioceses and preached there with sermons, which, however, did not have much success.

After becoming pope in 1198, Innocent III continued his policy of bringing the Cathars back into the Catholic Church through persuasion. But numerous preachers were greeted in Languedoc rather coolly than joyfully. Even Saint Dominic, distinguished for his eloquence, failed to achieve tangible results. The Qatari leaders were actively helped by representatives of the local nobility, and even some bishops who were dissatisfied with the church order. In 1204, the Pope removed these bishops from their positions and appointed his own legate in their place. In 1206, he tried to find support from the aristocracy of Languedoc and turn it against the Cathars. The lords who continued to assist them began to be excommunicated from the church. In May 1207, even the powerful and influential Count Raymond VI of Toulouse was excommunicated. However, after meeting him in January 1208, the pope's viceroy was found stabbed to death in his own bed, and this completely drove the pope mad.

Then the angry pope reacted to this murder with a bull, in which he promised to bestow lands on the heretics of Languedoc, all those who would take part in the crusade against them, and already in the spring of 1209 he declared a crusade against them. On June 24, 1209, at the call of the Pope, the leaders of the crusade gathered in Lyon - bishops, archbishops, lords from all over the north of France, with the exception of King Philip Augustus, who expressed only restrained approval, but refused to lead the crusade itself, fearing more the German emperor and the English king . The goal of the crusaders, as declared, was not to conquer the Provençal lands, but to liberate them from heresy, and in at least 40 days - that is, the period of traditional knightly service, above which the employer (whoever he was!) must was already paying!

To be continued...

Cathar religion

The heretical movement gained mass popularity in Europe in the 10th – 11th centuries.

The famous Russian scientist N.A. Osokin wrote:

“Soon after the 1000th year of Christ passed, the year of the end of the world expected by many, a wave of enthusiasm for strange beliefs swept across Europe. Their common source lay in the East, in the spurs of Transcaucasia, where several centuries earlier there had existed a real principality of heretical Paulicians, who preserved here, in shelter from many historical storms, the ideas of those generations of people who witnessed the emergence of Christianity, ideas that are now completely didn't seem Christian. The Paulicians believed that the world was created with the participation of an evil god, that Christ only took on the form of a man, descending into the vale of suffering; they demanded from the Church fundamental separation from the state; they did not accept Orthodox rituals and the authority of both Eastern and Western patriarchal popes. The concepts of past and future were an abstraction for them, because everything for which a person lived happened right now and here. They were not looking for halftones, pastel shades; their world was colored with only two colors - not even colors, but the extremes of polar existence - white and black.

When the Byzantine emperors defeated the strange heretics, some of the captured Paulicians settled in Thrace. There they mixed with the Slavic tribes, and then found themselves in the sphere of influence of the Bulgarian kingdom.

It was there, in Bulgaria, that the teaching of the Bogomils took shape - the first wave of the storm that subsequently hit Christian Europe. The Patarens of Italy and the Albigensians of the south of France revered the Bogomils as older and wise brothers, preserving the thread of a certain tradition already known to us.

However, the Albigensians became the most famous branch of this tradition - both because of the connection of their history with the emergence of the Inquisition, the Dominican and Franciscan orders, and because of the heroic, purely knightly-medieval struggle that local viscounts, barons, and counts were inspired to undertake. and even three kings - French, Aragonese and English. The Albigensian Wars are not a story of purely religious contradictions, they are woven into the general cultural history of that time, they are directly related to the process of the formation of the French nation and the French state.”

The flourishing state of Southern France was destroyed by the wars waged against it by the crusaders of the north at the behest of Innocent III - this is where our criminal pope appears on the scene. His will was carried out exactly. Devastating wars continued for 20 years, and for 20 years the lands of Southern France were devastated.

The dying poetry of the south became at this time an expression of the evil and vengeful feelings of the vanquished. Their immoderate, like all passions, but completely understandable to us, outside judges, anger was directed against Rome, which pronounced an anathema against them, and against Northern France, which took upon itself the duties of the executioner. It was on this basis that many caustic satires grew up against “deceptions, betrayals, greed, vices and tyranny of the clergy”, against the predatory and treacherous cruelty of the northern French. In the servents directed against Rome, we find indications of those vices that subsequently caused the great reformation movement. Rome is accused of a policy of deception and excessive greed.

Rome struck at southern France not only because it was saturated with the Albigensian heresy, but also because freedom of conscience, which was unpleasant to him, flourished there.

King Louis the Saint of France tried to help the southern provinces of the country and somehow alleviate the consequences of the troubles that befell Provence through the will and fault of his father and grandfather. But the ruined nests of the barons have no longer regained their former splendor; the past greatness has perished irrevocably.

Why were the baronial nests destroyed, the flower of chivalry exterminated, and the flourishing land of the south of France trampled?

The thing is that since ancient times, heresy, in the words of the chronicler monk, “has built a strong nest for itself in the south of France in Provence and Languedoc.” From the distant East, the perverse ideas of the Manichaeans, Paulicians, Bogomils, Patarens and Cathars penetrated here - as “children of equally vile errors” were called in different places. Passed from country to country, from one people to another, from one generation to another, these ideas, changing and developing, finally reached the south of France, happily passing all the outposts and customs houses erected along the way by the pope’s faithful servants.

These ideas were adopted by people of all classes; Even the powerful Toulouse dukes, castle owners and barons of Narbonne, Vincennes, Saint-Gilles, Foix, Commenes, Albigeois kept them in their souls. They were preached by both noble knights and peaceful traders, the heresy sounded in the soulful songs of Provençal troubadours and in the quiet songs of Languedoc villagers.

Heretics rejected all the books of the Old Testament, arguing that it had already been abolished, and read the books of the New in their own language.

They taught that God is one, denied the Trinity, and believed that communion and marriage were not sacraments at all.

They said that Christ did not “die and did not rise,” and the word of God should be understood spiritually, and not letter by letter, for “the letter is dead, but the spirit lives,” that in the matter of religion one should obey God alone, and not people.

They taught that God created human souls, and it was none other than the devil who clothed them with flesh, and people must wear their flesh until they are freed from sins and earthly bonds. Only then will the souls return to the mountain abode, to heaven, and until then they will wander and suffer on earth, for the Cathars also denied the existence of hell.

The heretics called themselves “poor in Christ” and, what is especially terrible for those in power, they considered wealth to be a sin.

Heretics taught not to obey the authorities, encouraged slaves not to work for their masters, they considered swearing and deification, murder and war a mortal sin. “Even if blood were shed for the most holy cause,” they said, “it is not pleasing to God.”

Finally, they said that for all nations there is one God, one Father, that all nations are the children of one Father, that there are neither better nor worse nations before God, but in every nation there are good and bad people.

The heretics did not want to know “any Christianity other than the evangelical and apostolic” and led a simple, strictly moral life, did not want to know monks and bishops, who were considered sinners and parasites, did not recognize the pope himself, claiming that long ago “the dominant Church of Rome refused from true faith and became the harlot of Babylon, that barren fig tree that Jesus cursed and commanded to be destroyed.”

These were the basic principles of the “Albigensian heresy,” which received its name from the city of Albi in the province of Languedoc - one of the centers of the Cathar movement, or Good People, or Elders.

Historians believe that the Cathars were missionaries who came from the East during the 2nd Crusade between 1140 and 1150. It was at this time that Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, an active fighter against heresies, the organizer and inspirer of the 2nd Crusade, traveled around the south of France and wrote with horror that the churches were empty, and in Verfey, one of the large castles of the Toulouse county, not a single believer was found who would want to listen to his sermon. One could say that the teachings of the Cathars defeated the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The main reason for Romania’s reluctance to remain under the rule of Rome was, undoubtedly, the depravity of the morals of the servants of the Catholic Church. Many bishops visited their parishes only to collect church taxes. Many priests, quarreling with their brothers, excommunicated each other from the Church. Many hid their clergy membership and wore secular dress.

Why did the Cathars attract people?

First of all, because, unlike the dissolute Catholic priests leading a daring life, these were ascetic people. They always moved in pairs, on foot, and were always dressed in black. They lived on the alms of believers, and when they were not engaged in missionary work, they spent time in men's and women's houses, which were very reminiscent of monasteries. They avoided carnal pleasures and especially condemned marital relationships, because as a result, new souls could end up in the prisons of human bodies. They believed in reincarnation, and therefore did not eat meat and avoided not only the killing of any living creature, but also any kind of violence. They condemned the oath, for one cannot take the name of the Lord in vain.

The Cathars believed that the imperfect earthly world, in which there is so much injustice, lies and sin, was created by Satan, who imprisoned innocent souls in bodies - creations of God, who would receive freedom only after the death of man.

To stop wandering from one body to another, being reborn again and again, one must accept the baptism of the Spirit - “comfort”.

“Consolation” can be obtained both at the last moment before death and in the prime of life. In the first case, the ritual is performed by people who are weak in spirit and unable to give up earthly joys. In the second there are strong people who become mentors of the flock.

Those who receive “consolation” become practically monks. They are required to abstain from sexual relations and all food of animal origin. They are only allowed to eat fish, because fish have cold blood and “lack spiritual heat” - remember the Russian expression “cold like a fish”? In addition, the Cathars believed that fish reproduce by spontaneous generation.

Many people who are not very strong in spirit, as we have already said, took “consolation” just before their death. Since the Cathars objected to any violence, they could not commit suicide - for example, taking poison or throwing themselves out of a window. But they found another way to die. They either refused to eat at all, or took a very hot bath and then lay down on the cold marble tiles of the floor. In the latter case, they were “guaranteed” severe pneumonia with an almost 100% fatal outcome.

It should be especially noted that after accepting the “consolation” the Cathars joyfully awaited death - it freed their souls from the prison of the human body. It is this joy of anticipation of spiritual freedom that explains the readiness with which Good people mounted the fires of the Inquisition.

Those who accepted “consolation” voluntarily became shepherds in their prime. They were distinguished from the crowd not only by their black robe, pale appearance and terrible thinness - the consequences of an ascetic life, but also by the fact that they were almost never left alone.

Immediately after the ceremony, the person who was ordered to become a Qatari priest was “given” a pair: the man was given a woman, and the woman was given a man. This was the custom of partnership until death - two inseparable Cathars loyally and faithfully supported each other in the most difficult moments of life.

A feature of the Cathar church was, according to some historians, a somewhat lightweight morality for adherents of Good People - in contrast to the strict asceticism of the Cathar priests themselves. The morals for adherents were fully consistent with the easy morals of the south of France. Since sins are a consequence of evil in a world created by the devil, they should not be judged too harshly. You just need to repent and receive forgiveness.

Other features of the Qatari church were also observed. So, for example, denying wealth, the Cathar priests were forced to accept gifts from believers - for the church itself. The accumulated wealth of the Cathars was legendary. The greatest treasures were, according to legend, collected in the castle of Montsegur.

This castle belonged to the sister of the Comte de Foix, Esclarmonde. Her acceptance of "consolation" attracted the attention of all the nobles of the area. There are many legends about Esclarmonde de Foix in Provence, and she is still revered. Provençal poetry made her the queen of the fairy castle. She was considered the keeper of the greatest shrine of the Cathars.

It must be said that among the Cathars there were many representatives of the nobility and a lot of women. They behaved with amazing courage and, not to mention the fact that, by accepting Catharism, they abandoned the lifestyle of wealth and bliss that was familiar to them from birth, with joy - yes, yes! It was with joy that they ascended to the stake or accepted martyrdom.

Thus, Geralda de Lavore, the lord (owner of a large land fief) of Lavore, was a true Qatari. In 1211, after a long siege, her city and castle were captured by the “army of faith,” and the “good” conquerors first handed over Gerald to be mocked by the soldiers, and then threw him alive into a well, covering him with huge stones. Senora Lavora died twice because she carried a child under her heart.

Such was the teaching of the Cathars, and such were the Cathars themselves.

“It is unlikely that all those converted by the Cathar preachers became true believers,” write M. Baigent and R. Lee. – There are suspicions that many took their new faith no more seriously than other Christians of that time took their Catholicism. But the Cathar heresy certainly seemed attractive. For the knights, nobles, merchants, shopkeepers and peasants of the south of France, it seemed to represent an acceptable alternative to Rome - flexibility, tolerance, generosity, honesty, which were not easy to find among the official clergy.

In practical terms, this promised salvation from the omnipresent clergy of Rome, from the insolence of the clergy and from the abuses of the corrupt Church, whose extortions became increasingly unbearable. There is no doubt that the Church at that time was monstrously corrupt. At the beginning of the 13th century, the pope said of his own priests that they were “worse than animals wallowing in their own excrement.” It is no coincidence, apparently, that the largest medieval German lyric poet Walter von der Vogelweide (c. 1170 - c. 1230) wrote: “O Lord, how long will you rest in your sleep?.. The one you set to guard is stealing the wealth that you have accumulated. Your governors rob here and kill there. And a wolf is watching over Your sheep.”

The bishops of that time were described by a contemporary as "fishers of money, not of souls, having a thousand tricks to empty the pockets of the poor." The papal legate in Germany complained that the clergy under his jurisdiction indulged in luxury and gluttony, did not observe fasts, hunted, gambled and engaged in commerce. The opportunities for corruption were enormous, and few priests made any serious effort to resist temptation. Many demanded payment even for performing their official duties. Weddings and funerals could only take place after payment had been made. Communion was refused until the donation was received. Even a dying person was not given communion until the required amount was extorted from him. The right to grant indulgences, release from punishment due to the remission of sins, provided considerable additional income.

In the south of France, such corruption was especially rampant. There were churches, for example, in which masses had not been celebrated for more than thirty years. Many priests neglected the salvation of the souls of their parishioners and engaged in commercial activities or ran large estates. The Archbishop of Tours, a famous homosexual who was the lover of his predecessor, demanded that the vacant position of Bishop of Orleans be given to his own lover. The Archbishop of Narbonne never bothered to visit the city or his diocese. Many other clergy feasted, took mistresses, traveled in luxurious carriages, had a huge staff of servants with them and led a life comparable to the top of the nobility, while the souls entrusted to their care vegetated in terrible slavery, poverty and sins.

Therefore, it is hardly surprising that a significant part of the population of these lands, far from any spiritual well-being, turned away from Rome and accepted the views of the Cathars. It is also hardly surprising that Rome, faced with such massive apostasy and a noticeable drop in income, became increasingly worried about its position. This concern was not unfounded. There was a very real prospect of the Cathar creed replacing Catholicism as the dominant religion in the south of France, and from here it could easily spread everywhere.”

The vicar of St. Peter on earth, Pope Innocent III, could not look at this “lost flock” with composure, and the world saw how the spiritual hand of the pope reached out to the armed and steel-clad hand of the “great patron of the Church” - the French king - and blessed the sword that glittered in this hand. And, pointing to Provence, the pope said to the king: “It’s time to go to the aid of God! You know, our beloved son, that secular power has the right to use the material sword when the spiritual one is unable to stop wickedness, that sovereigns must expel bad people from their possessions and that the Church, in case of their negligence, has the right to take away their property. We ask and exhort Your Majesty to annex all the lands of heretics into your hereditary possession; you can own them inviolably. So, work tirelessly and amicably with us, as befits royal magnificence, to speed up this matter.”

The pope said to the barons: “You are obliged to serve the king with loyalty and oath against everyone who attacks the kingdom, and the state has no more dangerous oppressors than heretics - people of different faiths and dissidents. Whoever does not exterminate heretics with fire and sword is himself a heretic. He who shelters heretics and who does not inform on them is worthy of punishment along with them.”

In those days, few people doubted the teachings of the Catholic saint, Blessed Augustine, who argued that heretics should be persecuted, that violence was necessary and useful, blessed by God. “Does not the Scripture say,” Augustine taught, “compel everyone you meet to enter? Was not the Apostle Paul forced by violence on the part of Christ to honor the truth? Didn’t Christ Himself say: “No one comes to Me whom the Father does not bring to Me?” Finally, God Himself did not spare His Son and gave him to the executioners for our sake. This means that a person who persecutes heretics follows Scripture - imitates God. The boss is God’s servant, an avenger to punish those who do evil.”

The opinion of St. Augustine was the dominant opinion, and, without delving into its essence, this opinion was shared and convinced of its justice not only by the crowd - “the dark crowd, the flock, the flock,” but especially by the shepherds - people who rose above the crowd.

And the pope’s words could not remain a voice crying in the wilderness. They found echoes and sympathy among both the nobility and the common people. Moreover, among those who supported the pope there were many people who saw practical benefits in the establishment of the Inquisition and the fight against heretics.

The Pope did not disdain anything to bring fire and sword against the heretics. He wrote to the French king that Christian debtors to Jews, going to war against the Albigensians, may not pay their creditors not only current interest, but also previous interest, and the payment of capital, by order of the pope, can be delayed. He wrote that all those who went to fight the Cathars would receive complete absolution. And then the pope allowed the heretics to be persuaded to surrender with false promises.

The inquisitors also did not particularly bother themselves with proving the guilt of the Cathars. “If you ask heretics,” writes Saint Bernard, “it turns out that they are the best Christians; in their speeches you will not find anything reprehensible, and their deeds do not diverge from their words. According to their moral teaching, they do not deceive anyone, do not oppress anyone, do not hit anyone; their cheeks are pale from constant fasting, they do not sit idly by and work to earn their bread.” We have in our hands a document incredible in its cynicism, confirming the innocence of the persecuted. Nothing to add here.

12. The defeat of the Cathar-Scythians The struggle of the Western Reformation of the 16th–17th centuries with the fragments of the Horde Empire is well illustrated by the defeat of the Cathars in France. The history of the Cathars is one of the exciting and mysterious pages of the Middle Ages. Allegedly in the 10th–11th centuries in Western Europe, and

2. THE GREAT HERESY OF THE CATHARS And then our investigation entered a path already familiar to us: the heresy of the Cathars, or Albigenses, and the crusade it provoked in the 13th century; everything indicated that she would have to play an important role in solving the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. In the era

2. The Great Heresy of the Cathars And then our investigation entered a path already familiar to us: the heresy of the Cathars, or Albigenses, and the crusade it provoked in the 13th century; everything indicated that she would have to play an important role in solving the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. In the era