This 3rd of January past was the 488th anniversary of the Papal Bull Decet Romanum Pontificem by Pope Leo X, the letter which officially declared Martin Luther a heretic. Though many things can be said about aforementioned Pope and heretic, I will save that for yet another useless blog entry. For now, here's a little taste of Decet:
"Martin [Luther] himself--and it gives us grievous sorrow and perplexity to say this--the slave of a depraved mind, has scorned to revoke his errors within the prescribed interval and to send us word of such revocation, or to come to us himself; nay, like a stone of stumbling, he has feared not to write and preach worse things than before against us and this Holy See and the Catholic faith, and to lead others on to do the same.
He has now been declared a heretic; and so also others, whatever their authority and rank, who have cared nought of their own salvation but publicly and in all men's eyes become followers of Martin's pernicious and heretical sect, and given him openly and publicly their help, counsel and favour, encouraging him in their midst in his disobedience and obstinacy, or hindering the publication of our said missive: such men have incurred the punishments set out in that missive, and are to be treated rightfully as heretics and avoided by all faithful Christians, as the Apostle says (Titus 3, 10-11)."
Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam
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