Misguided analogy

The letter-writer in the Feb. 20 People’s Forum (“Saintly signals”) had it a bit wrong when referring to Martin Luther in the context of Pope Benedict’s resignation.

Luther’s quoted statement came at the Imperial Diet at Worms, presided over by the Holy Roman Emperor and not at Luther’s church, and his statement was “Here I stand, I can do no other,” rather than “I cannot go on” in reference to the question: “Do you recant of your writings?”

Luther was not retiring from the church or leaving it, but trying to reform it (and certainly not quitting) – a quite different circumstance to that of Pope Benedict.

Garry Grabow, Apex