As a judicial prosecution of heresy by a special court set up by the Church and acting on its behalf, the Inquisition conflicts sharply with the civil tolerance which has been customary for centuries and recently confirmed officially by the Church in the Second Vatican Council (Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae). It is strange that the Inquisition took shape in a Church appealing to the Gospel and enjoining love. This is not the place for a direct apology for the Inquisition; what …