Yeah, it is scandalous since Pope Gregory IX did much more scandalous things like started Papal Inquisition, condemned Jews to inferior status, led crusades, ordered the burning of books, and other crimes against humanity to focus on something that he may not have done (killing cats).
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
