Fifth Graders Re-enact Trial of Martin Luther

To what extent does greed for money and power as well as personal grudges influence one’s position on political and religious issues? And what exactly is heresy? Fifth grade students grappled with such questions through a re-enactment of the trial of Martin Luther to decide whether or not the alleged heretic should be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

At the trial were Cardinals who served as jurors, a prosecution team, a defense team, and the “Great Inquisitor,” who was portrayed by fifth grade teacher and actor Andrew Narten - donned in robes and conveying a very solemn and quite imposing (if not altogether unbiased) persona of a judge.

After opening statements from both the prosecution and the defense, numerous witnesses (among them Pope Leo, King Henry VIII, and John Calvin) were called to the stand, questioned, and cross examined. After the prosecution and defense each rest their cases, Martin Luther’s fate will rest in the hands of the Cardinals.