Should the Catholic Church Acknowledge the Destruction of Classical Pagan Culture?

I recently read an article that offered a Christian apology to Jewish people for the wrongs committed against them. The author also acknowledged the way that Christianity was “built” on Judaism. That’s great. Yet there’s a glaring omission here. Christianity was also largely “built” on the destruction and desecration of Greco-Roman polytheistic culture.

To be sure, Christians suffered under the early Empire. This was partly due to their beliefs and partly due to their behavior. The Christian cult took root in a Roman world that was remarkably tolerant of most religions and in which co-existence was the norm; however, Christians were unique in their assertiveness to position their god as the “one true god,” their willingness to renounce their family for their god and their frequent apocalyptic predictions.

It was all too strange and disruptive for the Romans who never hesitated to take harsh action against agitators or troublemakers of any kind (this included pagan ones: in my book Brides of Rome: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins, followers of Bacchus are punished for their public disruptions).

Nonetheless, by the late 4th century and early 5th century CE, Christianity had gained considerable political power, even though the majority of Romans of all classes were still pagan. They continued to honor the gods and goddesses that they had honored since the dawn of their civilization. To solidify Christianity as the sole religion of the Empire, early Christian leaders legalized brutal policies that persecuted pagans. This gave Christians the legal green light to commit atrocious acts of vandalism that destroyed centuries of Classical art, history and culture.

Christian vandals smashed the heads and limbs off statues of beloved gods and goddesses that had been venerated for generations. They knocked the noses off the faces, and carved crosses into the foreheads, of deities, heroes and emperors. They burned ancient texts and scrolls, obliterating centuries of knowledge, literature and heritage. Pagan temples were closed and demolished, stripped of their marble to adorn churches.

These acts of vandalism robbed our Western civilization of a beautiful and important part of our own history, art and culture. We’ll never know what monuments or statuary were smashed to dust, or what masterpieces of literature or learning were turned to smoke.

To further Christianize resisters, the church usurped indigenous pagan festivals with Christian ones and created an arsenal of saints to replace the rich diversity of pagan gods and goddesses. Symbolism and ritual from pagan traditions were also claimed to have Christian origins. The flame of Vesta became the flame in Mary’s immaculate heart. The wafers the Vestals made for offerings became the wafers of the Eucharist. The pagan temples that were still standing had crosses placed atop them. The list goes on.

Forced conversions to Christianity were common, as was the seizure of property or assets belonging to pagans. And in a move of religious tyranny, it became illegal – upon pain of torture or death – to honor Vesta or other gods and goddesses, even within the sacred privacy of one’s own home.

It isn’t pleasant to hear — especially for those who hold their religion dear — but forced conversions and cultural destruction, done on a massive scale, played a significant role in the way Christianity established itself as the dominant religion. This approach set the tone for the fear and oppression of the so-called Dark Ages when anything that wasn’t Christian — including science, medicine and free thought — was deemed heretical and violently suppressed.

With the advancement of humanism and secular law, Christianity has lost much of its ability to impose its beliefs on others. And now, owing to the spiritual and intellectual freedom that exists in our society, more and more people have rediscovered Vesta and other ancient traditions, most of which have evolved to reflect 21st-century humanist values and are therefore well-suited to those who identify as spiritual but not religious.

It goes without saying that I’ve had to gloss over two thousand years of history here (and haven’t even touched on the fact that the Romans committed their share of atrocities). The impact of this period had far-reaching effects on many faiths and cultures.

My purpose is simply to illustrate how one worldview gained dominance through the destruction of another, and how in the process, priceless works of Classical art, knowledge and culture — items and ideas that were so relevant to the human experience for all of us in the Western world — were lost forever. We’ll never know how our society might have developed, especially in terms of scientific and social advancement, had one androcentric religion not held exclusive control of so many and for so long. The ancient Roman world was brutal, yes, but it had many forward thinkers, compassionate and intelligent leaders, and rays of light.

But back to the beginning: Should the Catholic church acknowledge the harms it did so long ago to Greco-Roman pagan culture? Of course, I don’t believe it ever will. Anti-pagan propaganda and a denial / whitewashing of history is still too prevalent for that to happen. Others have asked for this apology — pagans and Christians alike — to no meaningful avail.

Yet to me, there’s something to be said for acknowledging past harms. From the internment of Japanese Canadians during WWII to the mistreatment of First Nations children forced to endure the residential school system, an acknowledgement is as much about spreading knowledge and preventing future injustice as it is about mending fences.

For as the ancient Roman statesman Seneca the Younger tells us, errare humanum est, sed in errare perseverare diabolicum. To err is human, but to persist in error is diabolical.