So, were Catholics to blame for the Salem witch trials and subsequent executions?
Keep in mind that we are talking about an event that took place nearly two centuries after the Reformation. It took place in a place that was nearly entirely Calvinist and it is doubtful that the average person in Salem had ever even met a Catholic.
No, the people did it were responsible, as were those in a position of authority who approved such an action. I thought this had been settled upthread. The problem I have with threads such as this is the odd amnesia certain parties develop when wishing to condemn Protestants for behaviors long established in the church from which they separated, behaviors that continued concurrently with the Protestant Reformation and were particularly prevalent in the so-called "counter-Reformation." Failing to acknowledge this due to some strange desire to depict the "other" as uniquely to blame is not honest.
Keep in mind that we are talking about an event that took place nearly two centuries after the Reformation. It took place in a place that was nearly entirely Calvinist and it is doubtful that the average person in Salem had ever even met a Catholic.
So, do you suppose that Cotton Mather or Increase Mather came up with burning at the stake for witches by their own little lonesome? You know they didn't. Wasn't there some fancy Latin-titled book published by the Catholic Church dealing with the specifics of witch burnings?
Again, those responsible for the action were responsible, as were their leaders. I acknowledge this, but Catholics have difficulty acknowledging this.
Why is that, do you suppose? Is it somehow disobedient to acknowledge the errors of your church? I guess it's a difficulty that I don't have because I don't "follow" any Puritan hierarchy. They were professing Christians who fell into error due to historical tradition. It happens. Traditions are sometimes wrong, wouldn't you agree?