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Handout #161 |
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How to Fight Heresy |
| Ignatius of Loyola, here loyal to the spirit
of his time, gives Peter Canisius, sent beyond all the provinces of the
the emperor's adviser, energetic advice on combating Protestant heresy in
Austria.
Once a man has been convicted of heretical impiety or is strongly suspect of it, he has no right to any honor or riches on the contrary, these must be stripped from him. To make a few examples by condemning some to death or exile along with the confiscation of their goods, will show that one is taking religious affairs seriously, and the remedy will be all the more effective. If public professors or administrators at the University of Vienna or the other universities have a bad reputation in relation to the Catholic faith, they must be deprived of their degrees. All heretical books must be burned or sent beyond all the provinces of the kingdom. This is appropriate treatment for the productions of heretics, even if their content is not heretical, as with the grammar, rhetoric or dialectic of Melanchthon. It is necessary to be able to exclude them as a sign of antipathy to the heresy of their author. Ignatius of Loyola to Peter Canisius, 13 August 1554 A.D. |
