Untitled - Shattering Denial

8o THE INQUISITION
It was not any special aversion to the crusades, but their
horror of war in general, that made the Cathari declare
the preachers of the crusades murderers. 1
These anti-Catholic, anti-patriotic,
and anti-social
theories were only the negative side of Catharism.
Let us now ascertain what they substituted for the
Catholic doctrines they denied.
Catharism, as we have already hinted, was a hodge
podge of pagan dualism and gospel teaching, given to the
world as a sort of reformed Christianity.
Human souls, spirits fallen from heaven into a material
body which is the work of the Evil Spirit, were subject
on this earth to a probation, which was ended by Christ,
or rather by the Holy Spirit. They were set free by the
imposition of hands, the secret of which had been com
mitted to the true Church by the disciples of Jesus.
This Church had its rulers, the Bishops, and its mem
bers who are called "the Perfected," "the Consoled,"
and "the Believers."
We need not dwell upon the episcopate of the Catharan
hierarchy. Suffice it to say that the Bishop was always
surrounded by three dignitaries, the Filius Major, the
Films Minor, and the Deacon. The Bishop had charge
of the most important religious ceremonies; the impo
sition of hands for the initiation or Consolamentum, the
breaking of bread which replaced the Eucharist, and
1
Boat, xxii, 89; Dollinger, Beitrdge, vol. ii, pp. 199, 200, 287.