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Thousands of women accused of being witches<\/strong> find protection in the Catholic Church<\/strong>. This is happening today in Papua New Guinea, but it is also what happened to the witches who were defended by the Inquisition<\/strong>.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea<\/mark><\/strong> stands as the last bastion of hope for many women.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong>, a form of violence that particularly affects the most vulnerable women.<\/p>\n The phenomenon \u2014 known as SARV<\/strong><\/i> (“Sorcery Accusation Related Violence”<\/i>) \u2014 sees dozens, if not hundreds, of unfounded accusations each year turn into tortures<\/strong>, lynchings<\/strong>, or even killings<\/strong> of elderly women, widows, or mothers without family support.<\/p>\n They become targets, stripped of their dignity, and often eliminated as scapegoats<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This was reported some time ago by the agency Fides<\/a><\/i><\/strong>, which also informed about the strong and concrete<\/strong> pastoral approach promoted by the Archbishop of Madang, Anton Bal<\/strong>, during the summer retreat with catechists from 22 parishes.<\/p>\n Archbishop Bal emphasized<\/a><\/em><\/strong> the importance of a constant spiritual presence in times of mourning, material support from priests that prevents and hinders<\/strong> grief from becoming a tool for popular accusations, and the promotion of requests for medical<\/strong> or forensic certificates to explain the natural causes of deaths.<\/p>\n Where violence has already broken out, however, the Church<\/strong> acts to protect the “witches”<\/strong>, relocating them to safe places and working with the authorities to restore peace.<\/p>\n On this front, the Caritas<\/em> of Papua New Guinea plays a decisive role. In the Diocese of Kundiawa in particular, many victims receive legal assistance and protection<\/strong> from abuse by relatives and neighbors.<\/p>\n Prevention, once again, also involves raising awareness about the real causes of deaths<\/strong> and exposing the true reasons behind the accusations, which are often driven by jealousy, envy, and the desire for revenge.<\/p>\n Another diocese, Wabag, has even included<\/a><\/em><\/strong> the “witch emergency” in its multi-year pastoral planning, offering shelter<\/strong> and a gradual path of reintegration for women who are accused.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If anyone is surprised by this, it is because, as a victim of anti-clerical historiography<\/strong>, they do not know that historically the Catholic Inquisition<\/strong><\/mark> often acted precisely in defense of witches.<\/p>\n This was clearly explained by the (secular) historian Adriano Prosperi<\/strong>, highlighting the rarity and moderation of witchcraft cases in the Roman Inquisition where, among other things, \u00abthere are trials in defense of witches<\/strong>: in several cases we find people prosecuted for calling some woman a “witch”\u00bb<\/i> and the Catholic tribunal \u00abintervened to protect<\/strong> the honor of women offended by that label\u00bb<\/i>1<\/a><\/sup>Adriano Prosperi<\/b>, Tribunali della coscienza. Inquisitori, confessori, missionari<\/i>, Einaudi 1996, pp. 191-192<\/span>.<\/p>\n This opinion is shared by Christopher Black<\/b>, Professor of Italian History at the University of Glasgow, who stated that it was the secular judiciary<\/strong> that was cruel toward witches, while \u00abthe Holy Office regularly exhorted inquisitors to strive to save<\/b> anyone who ended up accused with only such flimsy evidence, victims of the inquisitorial enthusiasm of the people or the secular magistrates\u00bb<\/i>2<\/a><\/sup>Christopher Black<\/b>, Storia dell’Inquisizione in Italia<\/i>, Carrocci Editore 2013, p. 569<\/span>.<\/p>\n For his part, Giovanni Romeo<\/b>, Professor of Modern History at the University Federico II of Naples, attests to several cases in which the judges of the \u00abHoly Office blocked<\/b> some reckless initiatives by zealous witch persecutors\u00bb<\/i> and, beyond showing concern about witch hunters in the secular judiciary, \u00abinterventions multiplied in which they distanced themselves<\/b> from the abuses and errors committed by individual local judges in witchcraft trials\u00bb<\/i>3<\/a><\/sup>Giovanni Romeo<\/b>, L’Inquisizione nell’et\u00e0 moderna<\/i>, Laterza 2002, pp. 46, 47<\/span>.<\/p>\n Not to mention that in Catholic Europe<\/strong> there were no witch hunts<\/strong> similar to those in Central and Northern Europe and, according to the specialist Andrea Del Col<\/b> (University of Trieste), this was due to \u00abthe attitude of the cardinal inquisitors<\/strong>, 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\u00bb<\/i>4<\/a><\/sup>A. Del Col<\/b>, L’Inquisizione in Italia. Dal XI al XIX secolo<\/i>, Mondadori 2021, pp. 578, 582<\/span>.<\/p>\n Again, Adriano Prosperi<\/strong> added that the Roman Inquisition<\/strong> largely preferred to address the witchcraft phenomenon through confessors and preachers<\/strong> and, in more serious cases, public abjurations<\/strong> that helped educate the people about magical practices, to the point that \u00ababsolution<\/strong> was guaranteed to anyone who repented\u00bb<\/i>5<\/a><\/sup>Adriano Prosperi<\/b>, Tribunali della coscienza. Inquisitori, confessori, missionari<\/i>, Einaudi 1996, p. 414<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nPapua New Guinea, the Church as the Only Shield for Witches<\/h2>\n
The Inquisition and Witches: Moderation and Defense<\/h2>\n