Between Popes, Inquisitors and Princes

In Venice in the last months of 1556, Jesuit priest Cesare Helmi faced a quandary about a grave matter: should he absolve a potentially dangerous heretic in the secret sacrament of confession? That week, a man had confessed to Helmi that he had 'erred in many matters' fundamental to the Catholic faith.1 He had been part of a sect of 'Anabaptists' and people who espoused 'other various heresies'. He had believed serious errors about 'sacramental matters', 'indulgences' and 'the authority of the pope'. Hehad even recruited others to join him in the sect. These were serious sins. This man was a heretic--