I don't "hate" the Catholic church, Kansas58. I'm just not inclined to apologize for it when in the wrong, and it certainly has been, grossly, at times, and I'm not inclined to give it praise where none is due.
It's a huge, manmade organization, that occasionally loses sight of it's Godly mission, due in large part to excessive concerns over political power and money. I'll be the first to admit that it's done far more good than harm to and for Christians, though. European "Christendom" would not have existed without it.
The earliest known, written record of my surname comes from a Knight of the Temple, listed in the Inquisition of 1185. As a result, I have some knowledge of the history of the Catholic church, particularly in England, both good and bad. Perhaps not quite so intensively as a Catholic, but with the objectivity of an outsider. I also have some knowledge of the origins and history of the English church, both good and bad. The majority of my people, my paternal ancestry, played some role, mostly small but not all, in that episode.
So, again, I do not "hate" the Catholic church. In that you are mistaken.
I recall that “Friday the 13th” comes from the day when the King of France wrongly crushed the Knights Templars, pretending it was over heresy, when in fact, it was probably over money.
I also agree that the Inquisition was, in many ways, a disgrace.
However, heresy was a REAL concern for the Church, and the paranoid attention that the Church showed, in protecting against heresy, did not pop up out of no where.
It took weeks to travel from one area of “Christendom” to another. There were no telephones, no radio, no TV, no printed text. A far flung congregation could easily come in contact with false or heretical material and not know it was false, and have no means by which to test its validity.
Still, the crushing of the Templars was a horrible event. The Pope should have prevented it, he had the power to do so.
Pope John Paul II nullified the ex communications of the Eastern Metropolitans.
I wish our current Pope would nullify the judgments against the Templars, most of whom were probably innocent of all charges and faithful servants.