Vox in Rama

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Vox in Rama (Latin: 'One voice in Rama') is a letter from Pope Gregory IX. about a new group of heretics in Germany, which has been handed down in four copies in its register. On June 11, 1233, the letters to Emperor Friedrich II. And his son, King Heinrich , were sent, and on June 13, 1233, the message to Archbishop Siegfried III followed. von Mainz, to Bishop Konrad II of Hildesheim and to Konrad von Marburg , the next day that to the bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Mainz .

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The letter was intended as an information sheet about a heresy allegedly newly surfaced in Germany by Luciferians (see: Devil worship ). The Pope obtained his information primarily from the inquisitor Konrad von Marburg .

Excerpt from the text: As we have now gathered from the letter we received - this was full of deep sorrow and not free from immeasurable pain - there is one more among the various forms of heresy that poison Germany through the extent of its sins - both more hideous than the others also more widespread than the others - which both those who report about it and those who learn about it, filled with horror, erupted in the circles of the noble and very wealthy members of the Church ... (translation after Hergemöller, pp. 32-39 )

Subsequently, in Vox in Rama, the reprehensible rites of this sect are highlighted in dazzling details : When newcomers join the sect, newcomers would have to kiss a toad either on the backside or on the mouth, a pale man would appear afterwards and kiss the candidate too, whereupon he felt freezing cold and immediately all memories of the Catholic faith disappeared. A black cat would then rise backwards from a pillar. This too is kissed on the backside by all those present ( osculum infame ). Then the lights would be extinguished and those present would indulge in the common fornication . Although these heretics would visit church, they would immediately bring the received host home in their mouths to spit in the toilet.

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  • Vox in Rama . Text of the four copies in: Epistolae saeculi XIII e regestis pontificum Romanorum selectae . Part 1. Edited by Karl Rodenberg. Berlin 1883, pp. 432–435 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )

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