Guest Op-Ed: 500th anniversary of the excommunication of arch-heretic, Martin Luther

By Mark Thomas

This Sunday, January 3, 2021, is the 500^th anniversary of the excommunication of Martin Luther as a heretic and schismatic – the greatest damage ever done to the Holy Catholic Church. He died unrepentant, without the sacraments and outside the One True Church.

Yes, Pope Leo X, who issued the excommunication decree and the previous Exsurge Domine warning (6/15/1520) to Luther, had a mixed record of papal righteousness – but in this event he is nearly unsurpassed and fairly vindicated. 

In this writer's view, these documents are two of the most formidable, necessary and courageous decrees emanating from the Chair of Peter, defending the Holy Roman Catholic Church from doctrinal attack. They were subsequently, fully upheld by the Council of Trent – also one of the greatest Councils in Church history – to which we owe very much, especially on the Eucharist!

We still face great danger. With Luther, there was no warning, just 95 absurd theses appearing out of thin air. 

Here today, we had a warning in 1917 at Fatima. “Russia will spread her errors throughout the world,” did Our Lady alert the three children and us Catholics. 

We feel these effects today – a far more serious warning than Luther. In full deference to Our Lady and the Most Holy Trinity – it is extremely doubtful (despite assertions to the contrary) that the full, correct Consecration to Russia was done; or that the decisive 3^rd Secret text was totally revealed. 

Venice 31 October 2017: What goes around comes around!

Note: We missed this one on the official day -- but better late than never. What goes around comes around!

Last October 31st on the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Revolt, some unidentified person/people stuck a copy of Pope Leo X’s Bull Decet Romanum Ponteficem, excommunicating Martin Luther, on the main door of the Chiesa Evangelica Alemanna in Venice.

IL FOGLIO: A prayer to St. Charles Borromeo - bless the artists who stand firm where priests are giving in

Camillo Langone

   Il Foglio

November 4, 2017

St. Pius V and St. Charles Borromeo defending Catholicism against Islam and the Protestant Heresy

By Giovanni Gasparro

St. Charles Borromeo, flagellator of Protestants, I entreat you on this your feast day, concerning the infatuation many priests have for Martin Luther, witnessed recently in Milanese exhibitions and Vatican stamps. Yet, where priests are surrendering, painters are resisting. In Imola, Sergio Padovani at present is exhibiting a portrait fittingly entitled "Martin Luther, the Heretic" while in Aldefia Giovanni Gasparro is busy putting the final brushstrokes to his work of the following sensational title: "St Pius V and St. Charles Borromeo defending Catholicism against Islam and the Protestant Heresy." Commissioned, naturally, not by an ecclesiastic, but a member of the laity. He who was called “a blind heresiarch” by St. John Bosco and by St. Peter Canisio  “an impious blasphemer” is depicted alongside a pig and with swinish eyes: inclined to evil, to guzzling and nuns, [in fact] his contemporaries used to call him Porcus Saxioniae.

Celebrating 500 years of the Lutheran Heresy, Italian Catholic Churchmen and Lutherans sign agreement towards fake unity

NOTE: Dear Readers, in all my years of translating religious documents for Rorate Caeli, I have never translated one so devoid of any real content, so forgive me if it’s not a “good” read -- superficiality is not easy to translate. F.R.

To be reconciled in order to proclaim the Gospel

Declaration of the Italian Episcopal Conference and the Italian Lutheran Evangelical Church for the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation [sic, Revolt]

“Rather than past conflicts, the divine gift of unity among us will guide collaboration and deepen our solidarity. Closely united in our faith in Christ, praying together, listening to one another, experiencing the love of Christ in our relationships, we, Catholics and Lutherans, are open to the power of the One Triune God. Rooted in Christ and rendering witness to Him, we renew our determination to be faithful heralds of the infinite love of God for all of mankind” (Joint Declaration on occasion of the Catholic-Lutheran  Commemoration of the Reformation, Lund, October 31, 2016).  These words have guided the path of reconciliation and sharing which has involved Catholics and Lutherans in many places throughout this year,  [so as]to experience  a mutual commemoration of the 500^th anniversary of  the commencement of the Reformation, along the lines indicated in the document: From Conflict to Communion of the Lutheran-Catholic Commission for Unity.

There have been numerous initiatives in Italy, at various levels, in which Christians have taken part in commemorating the Reformation of the XVI century, in a spirit which, even if it cannot be considered a novelty in the light of steps made over the past few decades, it has surely opened up a new season on the path to constructing a visible unity of the Church through which the scandal of divisions can be brought to an end.

Guest Article: Martin Luther 500 Years later: prophet or revolutionary? Key-points of a thought surprisingly current

Martin Luther 500 Years later: prophet or revolutionary? 
Key-points of a thought surprisingly current

By Fr Serafino M. Lanzetta

This day marks the quincentenary of Martin Luther’s protest with his 95 theses in Wittenberg. It is common to trace back to that 31st October 1517 – supposedly the day when Luther nailed his theses to the door of the Cathedral – the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, although not all historians share this view. In fact, the real Lutheran turning point is not to be found in Luther’s protest against indulgences, but rather in his “Tower experience” (or of “the latrine”, as Luther also puts it, cf. Table Talks, 3232c), which will represent the Durchbruch, the ‘compelling passage’ to the Reformation and will be ‘official’ with the year 1520, when Luther composed his De captivitate babilonica Ecclesiae, offering his new doctrine about sacraments in relation to grace.

The event of this anniversary has been greeted with unexpected emotion and enthusiasm in the Catholic world. For example, Cardinal Kasper, in a recent little book on Luther from an ecumenical prospective, has encouraged us to look at the former Augustinian monk as a new St. Francis of Assisi who wanted simply to live the Gospel with his brethren; Luther should be enumerated “in the long tradition of Catholics reformers that have preceded him”. Very recently, Msgr. Galantino, the secretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, said that “the [Lutheran] Reform was an event of the Holy Spirit”.

The Church triumphs over Luther

Cast out by Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the Devil, false religion, and the heresiarch Martin Luther fall from heaven while an angel of God burns Luther's heretical writings and mistranslated German Bible -- from the fresco that Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656 –1730) painted within the dome of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI's Karlskirche in Vienna, Austria.

While the Vatican officially celebrates heresy, schism, blasphemy, sacrilege and iconoclasm [that is to say, Protestantism], let faithful Catholics instead join with the saints and angels in celebrating the Church's eternal triumph over Protestantism's assaults on the Faith which she achieved through Leo X's bull Exsurge Domine and the decrees of the Council of Trent, which infallibly and irreformably anathematise the false teachings of the Protestants.

500 years of Protestant Revolution: Must-read account of the Life and Errors of Luther (by Bp. William Adrian)

Fifty years ago, on the 450th anniversary of the Protestant revolt, The Wanderer published Bp. William Adrian's detailed account of the life of German heresiarch Martin Luther. In a few words: Luther was a pervert obsessed with his own sins and temptations, who thought it impossible to try to be a better person: from there arise all his issues.

We have received special permission from The Wanderer to reprint this piece, which should be read by everyone interested in the history of the past five centuries.

***

450th Anniversary of Luther

Bishop William Adrian (Nashville, Tennessee)

The Wanderer

September 21, 1967

In presenting the picture of Martin Luther I want to be completely objective, and rely on the authority of some of the most reputable scholars available, many of whom are non-Catholics.

Luther on his deathbed

During the last century, especially since 1883, the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of Luther, there have been two Luthers – one of panegyric, romance and fiction, and the other the Luther of fact. Since the 450th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation is being commemorated this year, these TWO Luthers are still being presented. Only recently an ardent clerical Catholic ecumenist wrote that the Catholic Church now admits that it has been wrong all along about Martin Luther, and that he really deserves to be canonized as a saint. On the other hand, most historians presenting facts give quite a different account. These facts about Luther I will briefly present, and let you be the judge.

Dr. Guilday, former history professor at the Catholic University, summed up the work of Luther’s life this way: “The cleavage of Luther from the Catholic Church was not caused by opposition to the Papacy, but by the false idea, which seems to have haunted him unto obsession – his total impotency under temptation. It was this negation of the moral value of human action – this denial of man’s ability to overcome sin – which led to his famous doctrine of the worthlessness of good works. The only hope he had was a blind reliance on God, whose Son, Jesus Christ, had thrown around him the cloak of his own merits. From this starting point it was facilis descensus Averni. Opposition to all good works, and particularly to Monastic regulations and to Indulgences, led to opposition to authority – Episcopal and Papal.”

The facts of Luther’s life bear out the truth of this statement.

Sermon for Christ the King: Catholic Paralysis following Vatican II Threatens Very Foundation of the Church

by Fr. Richard Cipolla

St. Mary's

Norwalk, Connecticut

Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.”
(John 18:37-38)

The Feast of Christ the King was added to the Roman Calendar in Pope Pius XI’s Encyclical Quas Primas  on December 11, 1925.   This was the time of a most troubling interlude between the two World  Wars that devastated two generations.  It was also a troubled time for the Catholic Church.  This time was the beginning of the rise of the understanding of an ideal government as purely secular.  This was also the time when the so called Roman question had not been resolved, the question being the dispute regarding the temporal power of the popes as rulers of a civil territory in the context of the Italian Risorgimento. It ended with the Lateran Pacts between King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Pope Pius XI in 1929.

The Pope was quite explicit in why he thought it necessary and salutary to institute this feast for the whole Church. The date, the last Sunday in October, was chosen because it was the Sunday before All Saints Day, when the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ is seen in the glorious holiness of the saints in heaven; also because it was near the end of the liturgical year, and finally,  because that Sunday had been traditionally observed as Reformation Sunday by Protestants.

500 Years of Protestant Revolution - (2) Luther Prince of Heresy: Why Luther is the heresiarch par excellence

In solemn and mournful remembrance of the events surrounding the grievous actions of Martin Luther, that split Europe and deprived hundreds of millions of souls of the benefits of sacramental life, we will post again important articles on the matter.

***

From 2011:

Pierre Le Gros
Religion Overthrowing Heresy and Hatred
Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di GESÙ all'Argentina, Rome

This is a special two-part series for this month of the Protestant revolt based on a conference delivered by Don Pietro Leone Monselice* on the theological work of the man who caused so much hurt and pain to Holy Mother Church, the "prince of the heresiarchs", as Don Pietro appropriately calls him.

_____________________________________

[FIRST PART]

In Nomine Patris et Filli et Spiritus Sancti. Amen

        In these times of great ignorance and radical confusion, and when even Catholics of the highest levels of the hierarchy are pleased to praise Martin Luther, we would like briefly to present and evaluate his theology.

I The theology of Martin Luther

500 Years of the Protestant Revolution - (1) How Luther viewed the Holy Roman Church (Strong Language)

In solemn and mournful remembrance of the events surrounding the grievous actions of Martin Luther, that split Europe and deprived hundreds of millions of souls of the benefits of sacramental life, we will post again important articles on the matter.

***

Martin Luther and the Catholic Church

a guest-post by John R. T. Lamont (2016)

          

"HERE I STAND":
Luther's version of the "NON SERVIAM"(Gedaechtniskirche, Speyer)

A number of favourable comments about Martin Luther have been made by Catholic authorities to mark the occasion of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. In particular, the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, whose president is Cardinal Kurt Koch, has issued a Catholic-Lutheran ‘Common Prayer’ for 500 years of Reformation together with the Lutheran World Federation. This ‘Common Prayer’ includes the following prayers: ‘Help us to rejoice in the gifts that have come to the Church through the Reformation’, and ‘The ecumenical journey enables Lutherans and Catholics to appreciate together Martin Luther’s insight into and spiritual experience of the gospel of the righteousness of God, which is also God’s mercy’; ‘Thanks be to you O God for the many guiding theological and spiritual insights that we have all received through the Reformation.’ This is not of course an initiative of the magisterium of the Church, but it is as effective in forming the beliefs of Catholics as a magisterial statement, since it is presented in the media as a position of the Church. This initiative urgently requires comment and criticism from faithful Catholics.

January 13: 470 years of the Decree on Justification of the Council of Trent - a Permanent Bulwark againt Protestant Heresy

The Cathedral of San Vigilio, in Trent, home of the
Sixth Session of the Council of Trent (1546-1547), in the morning of January 13, 2017

On this day, exactly 470 years ago, the August Fathers of the Sacrosanct Ecumenical Council of Trent, at the end of the sixth session, issued one of their most decisive and extensive documents, the Decree on Justification.

Justification, of course, had been the central issue of the Protestant heresies ravaging the Church in Europe since the malevolent actions of the renegade monk Martin Luther, thirty years earlier. After long debates, the Conciliar Fathers clarified all points and reaffirmed the unchangeable doctrine of the only Church of Christ on the Salvation of Souls.

The full text of the Decree is available here. The main points dealt with in the Decree can be summarized thus:

1. The Catholic Faith is the foundation of all Justification.

German Bishop: Communion for non-Catholics married to Catholics Possible

From the official website of the German Bishops' Conference:

Hope for shared Holy Communion for married couples

Op-Ed: "Kneeling Before Luther", by Roberto de Mattei

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

November 2nd 2016

It is with deep sorrow we say this.

Socci: Scandal in the Vatican

Antonio Socci

Lo Straniero

October 14, 2016

Last Thursday, the 13^th of October,  marked the beginning of the 100-year anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima, yet Bergoglio, instead of honouring Our Lady, honoured Martin Luther by taking part in an audience (in the Vatican) where a statue of the German heretic and schismatic was exposed as if he were one of the saints.

For that matter, Bergoglio is the Pope who, for the first time in two thousand years, has wanted the profanation of the Sacraments! 

2016 Lake Garda Statement

The Lake Garda Statement

Regarding the “Catholic” Apotheosis of Luther

Final Session of the 24^th Annual Roman Forum Summer Symposium

Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

July 7^th, 2016

Our civilization is so sick that even the best efforts to prop up its few tottering remnants manifest the pathetic illness that has step by step brought the entire structure crumbling down. The disease in question is a willful, prideful, irrational, and ignorant obsession with “freedom”. But this is a malady that gained its initial effective entry into Christendom in union with the concept of the natural world as the realm of “total depravity”.

It is crucially important that we recognize both the ultimate responsibility of this willful liberty for the destruction of our Christian and Classical culture as well as the role played by the idea that “incarnated” it historically in our midst. This is so for two reasons. The first is in order that we may attempt seriously to rid ourselves of their monstrous influence over our own minds, souls, and bodies. The second is because a massive attempt to masquerade the truth regarding their real character and practical alliance is being mounted in conjunction with the five hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther’s devastating appearance on the public scene in 1517—and this for the sake of maintaining their nefarious impact upon believers and delivering the Faith its coup de grace as a meaningful social force.

Luther and the Holy Roman Church in His Own Words (Strong Language) - Guest-post

Martin Luther and the Catholic Church

a guest-post by John R. T. Lamont

          

"HERE I STAND":
Luther's version of the "NON SERVIAM"(Gedaechtniskirche, Speyer)

A number of favourable comments about Martin Luther have been made by Catholic authorities to mark the occasion of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. In particular, the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, whose president is Cardinal Kurt Koch, has issued a Catholic-Lutheran ‘Common Prayer’ for 500 years of Reformation together with the Lutheran World Federation. This ‘Common Prayer’ includes the following prayers: ‘Help us to rejoice in the gifts that have come to the Church through the Reformation’, and ‘The ecumenical journey enables Lutherans and Catholics to appreciate together Martin Luther’s insight into and spiritual experience of the gospel of the righteousness of God, which is also God’s mercy’; ‘Thanks be to you O God for the many guiding theological and spiritual insights that we have all received through the Reformation.’ This is not of course an initiative of the magisterium of the Church, but it is as effective in forming the beliefs of Catholics as a magisterial statement, since it is presented in the media as a position of the Church. This initiative urgently requires comment and criticism from faithful Catholics.

Should Any Catholic Praise Luther? (A cross-post)

Blogger Dr. Christopher Malloy has written an eloquent piece on why we absolutely should not praise Luther as we draw near to the 500th anniversary of his initial public act of rebellion. Rorate thanks Dr. Malloy for his permission to cross-post this timely collection of quotations here.

We praise someone who fundamentally deserves praise. No one is without fault, and no one without some merit. But only those are worthy of praise who fundamentally deserve praise, whose pith and marrow is good.

"An Act of Parliament, directly oppugnant to the laws of God and his holy Church..."

All which notwithstanding the jury found him guilty, and incontinent upon the verdict the Lord Chancellor [for that matter chief commissioner] beginning in judgment against him, Sir Thomas More said to him,

"My Lord, when I was towards the law, the manner in such case was to ask the prisoner before judgment, why judgment should not be given against him."

Whereupon the Lord Chancellor staying his judgment, wherein he had partly proceeded, demanded of him what he was able to say to the contrary. Who then in this sort mildly made answer:

"Forasmuch as, my Lord, this indictment is grounded upon an Act of Parliament, directly oppugnant to the laws of God and his holy Church, the supreme government of which, or of any part thereof, may no temporal prince presume by any law to take upon him as rightfully belonging to the See of Rome, a spiritual preeminence by the mouth of our Saviour himself, personally present upon the earth, to St. Peter and his successors, bishops of the same see, by special prerogative, granted, it is therefore in law amongst Christian men insufficient to charge any Christian."...

You suggest: Learning from Luther the Right Way Part 2 – PapacySpecial discount for Rorate readers

The following was submitted to Rorate, and we worked out a 25% discount for our readers. Go to the end of the post on the next page (by clicking "Read more" below) to see the significant discount for our readers. Part 1 can be found here.

St. Robert Bellarmine has long been considered one of the greatest apologists in defense of the Church, and his works have been a perennial challenge to the Protestant Revolt. For all that, today very few are familiar with Bellarmine’s actual writings, due to the loss of Latinity in our own culture. This is gradually being remedied, however and I am pleased to announce the publication of St. Robert’s De Romano Pontifice, On the Roman Pontiff, volume 1.

Radicati Editorial: Protestantism halfway is Protestantism all the way

Protestantism halfway is Protestantism all the way

Editorial: Radicati nella fede, April 2015

Newsletter of the Catholic community of

Vocogno, Diocese of Novara, Italy

The 19 Holy Martyrs of Gorkum,
hanged and mutilated by Protestants on July 9, 1572, in Brielle, Holland

Presently we are watching, resigned, at the vertiginous decline of priestly vocations and the related diminution of the priests’ presence among us. Day after day, parishes without the stable presence of a priest are increasing; undeniably, priests are becoming scarcer. More and more churches are now opened sporadically for the celebration of Holy Mass and closed for most of the year. Moreover, even when the priest is still resident in some big parish, his effective presence is progressively diminished, overloaded as he is, by having to guarantee services to innumerable small communities in the area. In many mountain valleys there isn’t even one priest left.

What is there to say? It is a sadly disheartening picture.

What it the greatest danger though? In our view, it is that the solution to all this is being dictated by those who have caused and accelerated the problem! “Protestantized” Christianity started this disaster decades ago and is now offering us the remedies!