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The accomplishments of Martin Luther, prince of the heresiarchs - Part One: Why Luther is the heresiarch par excellence 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...

Almost everyone knows Martin Luther's famous defense before the Diet of Worms: "Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen." Not as many people can quote what he said just before that. "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I cannot and will not retract." That quotation sums up the way the Lutheran movement began: as a demand for the church to operate under Scriptural authority. When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America passed its social statement on sexuality last summer, approving of gay unions and gay...