Luther and the Diet of Worms

I have a brief section of Luther and the Diet of Worms on my other blog. You may find it here.

October 12-14, 1518: Interview with the Cardinal

As a result of his protest against indulgences posted on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther was subsequently called to appear before Roman Catholic Church officials and to recant his words. In the city of Augsburg on October 12, 1518, Luther met with the famed Dominican Papal representative, Cardinal Cajetan. The meeting began with Luther showing great respect toward the Cardinal but soon turned more contentious. The following excerpt of a portion of the account is from the famous biography of Luther, "Here I Stand", by Roland Bainton:

...Luther...came out with a blunt rejection of the decretal and of the authority of the pope who formulated it. "I am not so audacious that for the sake of a single obscure and ambiguous decretal of a human pope I would recede from so many and such clear testimonies of divine Scripture. For, as one of the canon lawyers has said, 'in a matter of faith not only is a council above a pope but any one of the faithful, if armed with better authority and reason.'" The cardinal reminded Luther that Scripture has itself to be interpreted. The pope is the interpreter. The pope is above a council, above everything in the Church. "His Holiness abuses Scripture," retorted Luther. "I deny that he is above Scripture." The cardinal flared up and bellowed that Luther should leave and never come back unless he was ready to say, "Revoco"--"I recant."

Luther wrote home that the cardinal was no more fitted to handle the case than an ass to play on a harp. (p. 73)

Years later Luther would write about this meeting and note:

"But I could not bring myself to say those six letters, REVOCO."