The Heretics Lose Their Meeting Places

“Since, then, it is no longer possible to put up with your harmful errors, we give warning by this present statute that from now on none of you is to dare to meet together. We have therefore directed that you be deprived of all the houses where you are accustomed to hold your meetings. And our concern in this goes so far as to forbid your superstitious and senseless meetings to be held not only in public, but in any private house or place whatever. So let those of you who want to embrace the true and pure religion take the far better course: enter the catholic church and join with it in holy fellowship, and in that way you will be able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth. In any case, the delusions of your twisted minds must stop altogether from mixing with and spoiling the happiness of our present times. I mean the wicked and wretched double-mindedness of heretics and schismatics. For it is a task worthy of the prosperity we enjoy by the favor of God to try to bring back those who in times past lived in the hope of blessing to come: from all disorder and error to the right path, from darkness to light, from emptiness to truth, from death to salvation. And so that this remedy may be applied with real force, we have commanded, as was said before, that you be deprived outright of every gathering place for your superstitious meetings. I mean all the houses of prayer that belong to heretics, if they are worthy of the name; these are to be handed over without delay to the catholic church. Any other places are to be confiscated for public use, and no opportunity whatever is to be left for any future gathering, so that from this day on none of your unlawful meetings may dare to appear in any public or private place. Let this edict be made public.” [a]