Is the Pope Catholic? Now he plans to rehabilitate 'heretic' Martin Luther

Last updated at 12:14pm on 6th March 2008

The Pope is planning to rehabilitate Martin Luther - whose actions instigated the Protestant Reformation – by arguing that he did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices.

Benedict XVI will issue his findings on the 16th-century German theologian after discussing him at the papal summer residence, Castelgandolfo, during his annual seminar of 40 fellow theologians, the Ratzinger Schülerkreis.

Luther was and condemned for heresy and excommunicated in 1521 by Pope Leo X, who had initially dismissed him as “a drunken German” and predicted he would “change his mind when sober”.

Vatican insiders say the 80-year-old Pope - himself born in Germany - will argue that his countryman was not a heretic after all…

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=527671&in_page_id=1770

Having recently read a couple of books on the Protestant reformation, one could certainly make a case that that was Luther's intention at the beginning. One source said that he didn't shed his monk's clothing until he was 43, longer after the Catholic Church was done for him. But I think the Catholic Church long ago cut that thread. Wouldn't it mean impuning the intergrity of several Popes of that time; of basically calling into question the judgments of the Popes of that time? It further convinces me that the heads of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches are little more than glorified politicians. Sadly.

I just finished a great book called "Can Christianity Cure OCD?" In it the author (A psychiatrist and a Christian) looks at the life of three major Christians and how OCD effected them (Luther, John Bunyan and Saint therese). I highly recommend it even if you are not one of us who suffers from it.