(6) RQ2 - Fourth Lateran Council: Canon 3 on Heresy 1215

What is the main point of this?

The Church condemned all heresies (false beliefs) and anyone promoting them, no matter what name they used.

Clerics (priests/monks) allowing/operating in Heretics

They would be stripped of their positions, their property goes to the church.

Laypeople allowing/operating in Heretics

Property is confiscated

Suspected heretics?

avoided and anathematized (cursed) until they prove innocence or satisfy the Church; after 1 year of excommunication, they are formally condemned.

Role of secular rulers

Kings, lords, and officials were required to take an oath to fight heresy in their territories.

If a ruler ignored the oath they had to take —

• They could be excommunicated.

  • If they still refused after a year, the pope could release their subjects from loyalty and allow others to rule the land.

Incentives for Catholics:

Those who joined the fight against heretics were given spiritual rewards, like the same indulgences as those who fought in the Holy Land during the Crusades.