REF - And the Pope responds (Lesson)

And the Pope responds.

Throughout the Reformation, the Catholic Church refused to acknowledge the new religions created. Over time, they could not ignore the changes and attempted to stem the tide of those leaving the church. The attempts took many forms:

  • Authorizing Ignatius Loyola to create the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
  • Authorizing the Inquisition
  • Encouraging the Baroque art movement
  • Censorship
  • Calling the Council of Trent

To learn more, you can click here to read the HistoryGuide.org explanation of the Counter Reformation and the Jesuits. Links to an external site.

 

Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation.

Success of Reformation forced Pope Paul to call a general council of the church.

The Pope appointed a reform committee to prepare for the meeting:

  • The report presented to the Pope criticized fiscal practices and simony.
  • It was so critical that Paul tried to have it suppressed.
  • Protestants gained copies, reprinted and used it as justification for the split.

Eventually, the meeting did take place in 1545 at the city of Trent in Italy.

Took 3 sessions over 18 years to complete due to plague, war, and politics. It spanned the career of 4 popes.

Trent was strictly under the Pope's control. Voting was limited to higher levels of clergy; university theologians, lower clergy & laity were not permitted to vote. Leading Protestants were invited, but were not permitted to participate. None came.

Most important reforms dealt with internal church discipline:

  • Curtailed the selling of church offices
  • Foreign bishops forced to move to their dioceses
  • New rules made these same bishops more visible (more masses, annual visitations)
  • Parish priests now required to be neatly dressed, better educated and active among parishioners
  • No more concubines

Yet no concessions to Protestants. Instead, they reaffirmed Catholic dogma:

  • Tradition and scriptures are equally important
  • Good works are key to salvation
  • Seven sacraments upheld
  • Transubstantiation upheld
  • Purgatory upheld
  • Continued veneration of saints, relics & sacred images
  • Restricted selling practices of Indulgences, but upheld them in general
  • Created the Index of Forbidden Books
  • Marriage now only valid with presence of 2 or more witnesses (1 must be parish priest)

The Council of Trent was the leading influence on Catholicism for 400 Years (The 2nd Council of Trent was not held until 1962.)

 

 

 

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