Why were Peter Waldo and the Waldensians persecuted by the church?
• At about the same time, in around 1175, a devout Frenchman named Peter Waldo began to call Christians to the task of teaching and spreading the gospel. The heart of their teaching was scripture–rather than the traditional teachings of the Catholic church. Very soon Waldo and the “Waldensians” were having a strong appeal among a European people hungry for spiritual teaching. • The church reacted to Waldensianism the same way that it did to Catharism. Thus in 1184 Waldensianism was condemned by the Church right along with Catharism, despite the fact that Waldo’s teachings were very traditional in their Christian theology. • The Church did not want to be challenged in its authority by “upstarts” from outside the hierarchy of professional priests–no matter how truly Christian the teachings of these upstarts might be. Thus Waldo and the Waldensians were chased out of Germany, France, and most of Italy. But Waldensianism survived in the mountainous hideaways in the Swiss and Italian Alps
