Unknown Luther burns the papal bull Luther burns the papal bull When Eck went back to Rome, he persuaded Pope Leo X to accuse Luther of being a heretic. With Eck’s prodding, the pope threatened to excommunicate Luther. In the summer of 1520, Luther was ordered to go to Rome and retract everything he had said and written against the doctrines of the church. He had sixty days to do so. The pope added that if Luther refused, he would be persecuted in this life and in the life to come. This letter from the pope was called a papal bull (“bull” comes from a Latin word meaning “seal,” so “papal bull” means “a special document or command from the pope”). Although Luther did reply to the pope, he also made his convictions clear in another way. On December 10, 1520, he and his friends made a fire and burned the papal bull. He also burned a book which taught that the pope was the supreme ruler of the church. This was an obvious insult to the pope, but Luther refused to listen to people who did not obey God and who wanted him to disobey God, too. By this action, he cut himself off from the church. He was excommunicated on January 3, 1521. No longer was he a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Many people in Wittenberg were glad; they agreed with Martin Luther.   Luther burning the papal bull   Luther burning the papal bull