If you were a Protestant living in a Catholic state during the Reformation, I'm sure you'd see that "totalitarian" question differently. If you believed any of the earlier heresies & had the Church offer up all of your stuff to any prince willing to deal with you, you might see that "totalitarian" question differently too. Think there could have been a Holy Roman Empire if the Church hadn't dabbled in the affairs of men?
Despite the Monarchs' & Church's differences, they often worked together.
Also, the Catholic Church makes no claims at all about how deaths after inquisition trials or even secular courts took place. It would help if you knew what you were talking about.
The Church has been pretty vocal about "correcting" the history.
You wrote: “If you were a Protestant living in a Catholic state during the Reformation, I’m sure you’d see that “totalitarian” question differently.”
Maybe you would, but none of the Catholic states of Europe - not even Spain with the inquisition - was as totalitarian as Protestant Europe. This has been proven in spades by Henry Kamen.
“If you believed any of the earlier heresies & had the Church offer up all of your stuff to any prince willing to deal with you, you might see that “totalitarian” question differently too.”
Doubtful. There were no executions in western Europe for heresy before the 11th century. Protestants had no slow development of their oppression. It was there immediately.
“Think there could have been a Holy Roman Empire if the Church hadn’t dabbled in the affairs of men?”
The Church doesn’t dabble in the affairs of men - it serves men and is staffed by men. And yes, I believe that the Holy Roman Empire would have existed anyway just not with a particularly Christian character. Why? Because it already did. It was called the Frankish Empire, and that empire was already in the process of forming BEFORE the Franks were even Christian.
“Despite the Monarchs’ & Church’s differences, they often worked together.”
Yes, they did, but they were never one in the same as happened in Protestant countries. Who is the founder and leader of the Anglican Church historically? The monarchy of Britain. There is nothing like that in the history of the Catholic Church.
“The Church has been pretty vocal about “correcting” the history.”
Nope. The Church has always been vocal about non-Catholics getting it right. The reason is simple: truth is truth and should always be pursued. Protestants, or secularists, have only recently started to put aside their ingrained prejudices and examine the real history of things like the inquisition.