Martin Luther's Reformation (1517) It was on this date, October 31, 1517, that the Protestant Reformation began in Germany, when 31-year-old Martin Luther posted his 95 theses at Wittenberg Cathedral. That document attacked papal abuses and the sale of offices and indulgences by church officials. Furthermore, Luther argued several other points: • that Christian salvation […]

Bill Clinton's "Map Room" Speech (1998): Churches and Confession It was on this date, August 17, 1998, that then-President Bill Clinton made his famous Map Room speech – a confession that he did indeed have inappropriate sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinski. Although not a Roman Catholic, President Clinton's simultaneously regretful and defiant […]

Martin Luther Condemned (1520) It was on this date, June 15, 1520, that Pope Leo X (p. 1513-1521) issued the Bull Exsurge Domine (Arise, O Lord), condemning Martin Luther for forty-one doctrinal errors and threatening him with excommunication if he would not recant. It is instructive to note the nature of the time and the […]

one could pay money, get change, and receive a piece of paper with which one got remission of sin. The price is stipulated and there is no indulgence without "alms." That sounds like a sale.

Like most public figures during the post-Revolutionary Royalist reaction, Champollion was compelled to keep his religious opinions discreet.

30,000 pilgrims arrived daily, and one of them says, "day and night two clerics stood at the altar of St. Peter with rakes and drew off the infinite sums of money."