Decet Romanum Pontificem (1521) is the papal bull excommunicating Martin Luther, bearing the title of the first three Latin words of the text: [It] befits [the] Roman Pontiff in English. It was issued on January 3, 1521 by Pope Leo X to effect the excommunication threatened in his earlier papal bull Exsurge Domine (1520) since Luther failed to recant accordingly. Luther had burned his copy of Exsurge Domine on December 10, 1520 at the Elster Gate in Wittenberg, indicating his response to it. A Papal bull is a particular type of patent or charter issued by a pope. ... Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ... Pope Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici (11 December 1475 – 1 December 1521) was Pope from 1513 to his death. ... Exsurge Domine was a Papal bull issued on June 15, 1520 at the Diet of Worms by Pope Leo X in response to the 95 theses of Martin Luther. ... is the 344th day of the year (345th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1520 (MDXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Statue of Martin Luther in the main square Wittenberg, officially [Die] Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany, in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, at 12° 59 E, 51° 51 N, on the Elbe river. ...

There are at least two other important papal bulls with the title Decet Romanum Pontificem: one dated February 23, 1596, issued by Pope Clement VIII, and one dated March 12, 1622, issued by Pope Gregory XV. is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan. ... Pope Clement VIII (Fano, Italy, February 24, 1536 – March 3, 1605 in Rome), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from January 30, 1592 to March 3, 1605. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 1 - In the Gregorian calendar, January 1 is declared as the first day of the year, instead of March 25. ... Pope Gregory XV with his Cardinal Nephew of unprecedented income and authority, Ludovico Ludovisi, known as il cardinale padrone. ...

Toward the end of the 20th century Lutherans in dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church requested the lifting of this excommunication; however, the Vatican's response was that its practice is to lift excommunications only on those still living. Roland Bainton in "Here I Stand after a Quarter of a Century," his preface for the 1978 edition of his Luther biography, concludes: "I am happy that the Church of Rome has allowed some talk of removing the excommunication of Luther. This might well be done. He was never a heretic. He might better be called, as one has phrased it, 'a reluctant rebel.'" Luther's rehabilitation has been denied however by the vatican, "Rumors that the Vatican is set to rehabilitate Martin Luther, the 16th-century leader of the Protestant Reformation, are groundless," said the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi. Lutheran–Roman Catholic Dialogue began in July, 1964 as an outgrowth of Vatican II and the new openness of the Roman Catholic Church to dialogue with other Christian denominations and other religions. ... Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ... Roland H. Bainton (1894-1984) was born in England and came to the United States in 1902. ...

[edit] External links

• Text of Decet Romanum Pontificem (Microsoft Word format)
• http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20080310.htm

v • d • e Related topics on Martin Luther
Works	A Mighty Fortress Is Our God · Large Catechism · Luther Bible · On the Bondage of the Will · On the Freedom of a Christian · On the Jews and Their Lies · Vom Schem Hamphoras · Smalcald Articles · Small Catechism · The Adoration of the Sacrament · Theology of the Cross · The Ninety-Five Theses · To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation · Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
Topics	Augsburg Confession · Decet Romanum Pontificem · Diet of Worms · Exsurge Domine · Lutheranism · Luther rose · Sacramental union
People	Albert of Mainz · Bartholomaeus Arnoldi · Desiderius Erasmus · Georg Rörer · Johann Cochlaeus · Johann von Staupitz · Justus Jonas · Hans Luther · Margarethe Luther · Karl von Miltitz · Katharina von Bora · Philipp Melanchthon