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Why did Voltaire criticize the power and intolerance of the church?

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Life-sized plaster sculpture Seated Voltaire by Jean-Antoine Houdon shows Voltaire draped in a robe, seated with a thoughtful expression and a ribbon crown, against a dark background. — Voltaire *Voltaire*, plaster sculpture by Jean-Antoine Houdon; in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California.

Voltaire’s criticism of the Roman Catholic Church was primarily driven by his staunch opposition to intolerance and his commitment to the principles of reason, civil liberty, and justice.12

He famously used the phrase écrasez l’infâme ("crush the loathsome thing") to designate the church, specifically when it acted as a force of dogmatic intolerance and institutional oppression. Voltaire viewed the church as a primary obstacle to progress, frequently attacking its authority and clerical power in his writings.3421

His indignation was fueled by specific instances of injustice where he believed the church’s influence led to barbarity and the persecution of individuals, such as:

The Case of Jean Calas: A Protestant merchant who was executed after being falsely accused of murdering his son to prevent his conversion to Catholicism.42
The Case of the Chevalier de La Barre: A young man who was executed for allegedly insulting a religious procession and damaging a crucifix.42

Voltaire championed the establishment of religious tolerance and the abolition of torture, arguing that such archaic laws and institutional fanaticism were incompatible with a rational society.42