Why did the Vatican drop the Inquisition? No longer a punishing authority, the Church increasingly seeks to be an agent to protect and share the faith The Spanish Inquisition, authorized by Pope Sixtus IV, was started in 1478 to preserve Catholic orthodoxy in the kingdoms under the Spanish monarchy. (Image: YouTube) Under Pope Francis' leadership, the Catholic Church continues the struggle to rid itself of its past images of triumphalism and war as it seeks to become the church of the poor. The battle is to stop being a mystery that repels to become a mystery that attracts, to borrow the words of Lutheran theologian Rudolf Otto.