“Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently to know what Paul wanted.” Martin Luther

“Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders.” [Ps 119:27]

It was not a good time for the church. Rome, the center of the Catholic faith, rather than being a dome of purity and piety had become a den of iniquity and insobriety. Having visited Rome on pilgrimage, Luther made this damning comment on what he saw there. “No one can imagine what sins and infamous actions are committed in Rome, they must be seen and heard to be believed. Thus, they are in the habit of saying, ‘If there is a hell, Rome is built over it’: it is an abyss whence issues every kind of sin.” He added, “The nearer we approach Rome, the greater number of bad Christians we meet with.”