LUTHER’S CRIME

When Martin Luther protested to his superiors against the sale of indulgences in 1517 by publishing his sensational Ninety-Five Theses, he was just an unimportant monk in Germany, where both geopolitically and economically he was on the margins of world events. In the years that followed, however, multitudes rallied behind this simple, unknown monk because he had a tool in his hands that gave him untold popularity never before experienced by anyone else: he had the printing press. Over the centuries, Catholic critics have called the reformer from Eisleben many names – heretic, agitator, enemy of the church, even Satan. A handful of people from his own ranks, however, saw in him someone who not only had the potential to divide their Church but also could renew it. But what is the situation today? In light of the upcoming 500th anniversary of the publication of the theses, the film attempts not to merely retell the life story of the reformer but to cast an entirely new light on the facts from the Vatican’s point of view. In search of the "Causa Lutheri", Dr. Christine Grafinger opens up the doors to the Vatican's Secret Archive.