Thousands of women accused of being witches find protection in the Catholic Church. This is happening today in Papua New Guinea, but it is also what happened to the witches who were defended by the Inquisition.

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The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea stands as the last bastion of hope for many women.

In the face of indifference often complicit with ancient traditions, it is the only institution that offers closeness, concrete help, and justice to those accused of witchcraft, a form of violence that particularly affects the most vulnerable women.

The phenomenon — known as SARV (“Sorcery Accusation Related Violence”) — sees dozens, if not hundreds, of unfounded accusations each year turn into tortures, lynchings, or even killings of elderly women, widows, or mothers without family support.

They become targets, stripped of their dignity, and often eliminated as scapegoats.

 

Papua New Guinea, the Church as the Only Shield for Witches

This was reported some time ago by the agency Fides, which also informed about the strong and concrete pastoral approach promoted by the Archbishop of Madang, Anton Bal, during the summer retreat with catechists from 22 parishes.

Archbishop Bal emphasized the importance of a constant spiritual presence in times of mourning, material support from priests that prevents and hinders grief from becoming a tool for popular accusations, and the promotion of requests for medical or forensic certificates to explain the natural causes of deaths.

Where violence has already broken out, however, the Church acts to protect the “witches”, relocating them to safe places and working with the authorities to restore peace.

On this front, the Caritas of Papua New Guinea plays a decisive role. In the Diocese of Kundiawa in particular, many victims receive legal assistance and protection from abuse by relatives and neighbors.

Prevention, once again, also involves raising awareness about the real causes of deaths and exposing the true reasons behind the accusations, which are often driven by jealousy, envy, and the desire for revenge.

Another diocese, Wabag, has even included the “witch emergency” in its multi-year pastoral planning, offering shelter and a gradual path of reintegration for women who are accused.

 

The Inquisition and Witches: Moderation and Defense

If anyone is surprised by this, it is because, as a victim of anti-clerical historiography, they do not know that historically the Catholic Inquisition often acted precisely in defense of witches.

This was clearly explained by the (secular) historian Adriano Prosperi, highlighting the rarity and moderation of witchcraft cases in the Roman Inquisition where, among other things, «there are trials in defense of witches: in several cases we find people prosecuted for calling some woman a “witch”» and the Catholic tribunal «intervened to protect the honor of women offended by that label»¹Adriano Prosperi, Tribunali della coscienza. Inquisitori, confessori, missionari, Einaudi 1996, pp. 191-192.

This opinion is shared by Christopher Black, Professor of Italian History at the University of Glasgow, who stated that it was the secular judiciary that was cruel toward witches, while «the Holy Office regularly exhorted inquisitors to strive to save anyone who ended up accused with only such flimsy evidence, victims of the inquisitorial enthusiasm of the people or the secular magistrates»²Christopher Black, Storia dell’Inquisizione in Italia, Carrocci Editore 2013, p. 569.

For his part, Giovanni Romeo, Professor of Modern History at the University Federico II of Naples, attests to several cases in which the judges of the «Holy Office blocked some reckless initiatives by zealous witch persecutors» and, beyond showing concern about witch hunters in the secular judiciary, «interventions multiplied in which they distanced themselves from the abuses and errors committed by individual local judges in witchcraft trials»³Giovanni Romeo, L’Inquisizione nell’età moderna, Laterza 2002, pp. 46, 47.

Not to mention that in Catholic Europe there were no witch hunts similar to those in Central and Northern Europe and, according to the specialist Andrea Del Col (University of Trieste), this was due to «the attitude of the cardinal inquisitors, similar to that of the Spanish Inquisition at the beginning of the seventeenth century when […] a certain skepticism about the real powers of diabolical witches arose and a more “rational” attention was paid to the content of their testimonies»⁴A. Del Col, L’Inquisizione in Italia. Dal XI al XIX secolo, Mondadori 2021, pp. 578, 582.

Again, Adriano Prosperi added that the Roman Inquisition largely preferred to address the witchcraft phenomenon through confessors and preachers and, in more serious cases, public abjurations that helped educate the people about magical practices, to the point that «absolution was guaranteed to anyone who repented»⁵Adriano Prosperi, Tribunali della coscienza. Inquisitori, confessori, missionari, Einaudi 1996, p. 414.

Finally, Christopher Black (University of Glasgow) further explains that «the relative leniency with which the Inquisition treated accusations of witchcraft can be explained in part by the legal training of the inquisitors, who had learned from manuals how accusations could arise from neighbors’ hostility, and that certain people — particularly women — could delude themselves and invent having truly experienced certain events»⁶Christopher Black, Storia dell’Inquisizione in Italia, Carrocci Editore 2013, pp. 564-565.

 

Thus, from Papua New Guinea to Catholic Europe centuries ago, a line of continuity emerges.

Wherever superstition turns into violence, the Church has been, and remains, the only institution capable of resisting, protecting victims, and restoring reason where suspicion once prevailed.