The Catholic Counter-Reformation

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The Catholic Counter-Reformation

• 1560-1648

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4 Areas of Focus

• Political Dimensions
• Doctrine
• Ecclesiastical Structural Reconfiguration
• Religious Orders

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1 Political Dimensions

• 1520 Pope Leo X orders Luther to recant 41 of
  his 95 theses or be excommunicated

• Luther burns the order
• (called a Papal Bull, or
• law)

• Luther is protected by
• the Elector of Saxony,
• Frederick III.

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Political Dimensions Contd

• The Emperor Charles V, in response, calls a
  Diet (meeting of the German Estates) in Worms
  the next year. (1521)

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Political Dimensions Contd

• It is here where Luther refuses to recant, and
  utters the (probably mythical) words, Here I
  stand. I can do nothing other. God Help Me. Amen.

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Luther is spirited away, and Charles V insists on
  there being a full Church council, as do the
  German estates.

• Charles V wants the
• religious controversy
• settled ASAP. He has
• the France of François I

• and the Turkey of
• Suleiman II to deal
• with.

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Political Dimensions Contd

• But back In Rome, a full church council is the
  last thing the new Pope, Clement VII (the one
  who will give Henry so much trouble) wants.

• Full Church Councils
• tend to think they are
• the voice of God on
• Earth.

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Political Dimension Contd

• But everyone knows that this is heresy.
• Unless you want to end up like this

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Political Dimensions Contd

• So the Papacy will delay and delay and delay.
• And heresy will spread and spread and spread.
• England will fall in 1533.
• And in France, the Calvinist heresy will take
  hold.

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Jean Calvin (1509-64)
• Heretic extraordinaire
• Born in France too!

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Basically Calvin said
• 1) We are enslaved to sin because of the Fall of
  Adam and Eve.
• 2) Only Gods mercy can save us.
• 3) The only person punished for our sins is
  Christ himself.
• Therefore God wont punish the elect twice
  (i.e. with Hell)
• Who are the elect?
• Us. ?
• Which could mean ALL of us. ?
• Or just some. ?
• Only God knows.

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Political Dimensions Contd

• 4) Grace is irresistible on the elect.
• 5) The Perseverance of the saints
• By saints Calvin means the elect
• By perseverance he means that the elect can
  never stray.

• This doctrine is very useful for Henri IV of
  France.
• He will stray several times, finally
• settling on Catholicism in 1594 by
• observing
• Paris vaut bien une messe. ?

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Calvin doesnt work in isolation many beliefs
  of the Lutheran faith, such as the priesthood of
  all believers of Martin Luther, are believed by
  Calvinists too
• All peoples work is pleasing to Godnot just a
  priests.
• Everyone can read and interpret scripture
• And this would be nothing except

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Political Dimension Contd

• What makes Calvinism so threatening is how
  quickly is spreads and how effectively it
  organizes.
• It doesnt really spread in the countryside, but
  it does in the towns and cities
• Except Paris, which remains severely Catholic.
• Luther was an original thinker, but not good at
  the practical aspects of building a Church
• Calvin was a systematizer
• He created a Church with roles for both clergy
  and non-clergy

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Calvin gives disgruntled nobles something to do
• Calvinism spreads like wild fire through the
  upper nobility of France (via the wives, who
  convert their husbands and sons)
• Like this one Jeanne dAlbrect, Queen of Navarre

• Her son, Henri, will
• become King Henri
• IV, the first Bourbon
• monarch

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Unfortunately in France, into one noble
  household, namely les Valois, Calvinism makes no
  inroads.
• Les Valois, who have for their leader one
  François I, just happen to be the kings of France
  from 1515-1589

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Political Dimensions Contd

• But why should les Valois remain so staunchly
  Catholic?
• Why would François I support Clement VII and not
  want a general Chuch council?

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Well, unlike Henry VIII in England, in 1516
  François I won the right to control of most of
  the French Catholic Church in something called
  The Concordat of Bologna.
• The Pope was the only person who could annul a
  marriage, but beyond that, François I was pretty
  much the head of the Catholic Church in France.
• He could tax, appoint bishops, block appointments
  by the Pope, etc.

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Political Dimension Contd

• In return, the Papacy got François Is support
  against Church councils.
• So you can see (now) why it takes so long to get
  a General Council together.
• It wont meet until 1545. And it wont end until
  1563.
• And it will only actually meet 3 times in that
  period.

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Pope Paul III will try to summon it in 1537, but
  will get nowhere until 1545

• Pope Julius III, (not a
• fan), moves the council
• to Bologna, suspends it
• and then dies. (1555)

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Political Dimensions Contd

• Pope Paul IV spends his papacy becoming the
  father of the Roman Inquisition.

• It is Pope Pius IV who
• will bring the Council to
• a successful end (and
• then die) in 1563 (1565).

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2 Doctrine

• Upheld basic beliefs of the medieval Church.
• The Church Fathers (ancient Saints like Augustine
  and Origen), the scholastics, and canon law were
  all held to be as valid as the Bible. (so no sola
  scriptura).
• Grace and therefore salvation were achieved thru
  faith and good works, not sola fidae
• The 7 sacraments were confirmed, including the
  doctrine of transubstantiation.

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A Word about sacraments

• Definition a sacrament is an outward sign of an
  inner blessing from God
• These are rites instituted by Christ during his
  ministry on Earth.
• The Catholic Church has 7

• Baptism
• Confirmation
• The Eucharist (Communion)
• Marriage
• Ordination
• Holy Orders
• Last rites

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A Word about sacraments

• The Lutherans will reduce the number of
  sacraments to two baptism and marriage
• The Calvinists eliminate them all.
• For the most part, the sacraments are harmless
  doctrine, except for a) Holy Orders
• Which made priests special and better than
  ordinary people
• And b) marriage

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A Word about sacraments

• Marriage is a problem because a blessing from God
  cannot be taken back
• This is why the marriage state bound people to
  one another and it was practically impossible to
  dissolve them.
• The Church didnt offer divorce per sé, but an
  annulment.
• This declared that the marriage was invalid at
  the time the vows were declared, and thus no
  grace was ever given by God.
• This is what Henry VIII sought he claimed his
  marriage to Catherine of Aragon was incestuous.

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2 Doctrine Contd

• Indulgences (tho not ones), pilgrimages, the
  veneration of the saints Virgin Mary were all
  reinforced.
• Catholic doctrine was recorded in the Roman
  Catechism, a manual for priests basically
  teaching them the beliefs of the faith.
• The Mass was standardized and spoken in Latin.

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3 Ecclesiastical Reforms

• Here the Church sided with the humanists in their
  criticism of priests.
• Parish priests were to be better educated and
  trained, catching up with the average person in
  most cases.
• Papal authorities would better educate the laiety
  (i.e. those who were not priests) about their
  religion the liturgy, the art, etc.

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Ecclesiastical Reforms Contd

• From now on, bishops were made to live in their
  dioceses (i.e. the lands they ruled in the
  Churchs name)
• However, bishops now had greater power in
  overseeing spiritual matters in their
  jurisdictions
• Celibacy was effectively enforced

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4 Religious Orders

• Capuchins, Ursulines, Theatines, Barnabites,
  especially Jesuits, were the shock troops of
  the Counter-Reformation
• They were orders of the world (i.e. they lived
  amidst the people) and oversaw the spiritual
  health of priests and the laiety and rooted out
  heresy

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4 Religious Orders Contd

• Capuchins practised the imitatio Christi of
  Erasmus
• Theatines rooted out heresy and educated the
  clergy
• Ursulines educated girls
• But the Jesuits were most effective

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The Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

• Founder Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)
• A soldier, he is badly wounded at Pamplona in
  1521 by a canon ball
• If he survives, he will devote himself to God
  and the Roman Pontiff, his vicar on Earth.
• Started The Society of Jesus in 1534

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4 The Jesuits Contd

• Given Papal authorization in 1540 by Paul III
• Organized along military lines with strict
  military discipline
• Took oaths of chastity, poverty, and obedience

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4 Religious Orders Contd

• The Jesuits thus helped the papacy keep its
  supremacy versus Church Councils with Loyolas
  oath
• This was another key aspect of the medieval
  Catholic Church the primacy over the Church of
  the office of the Pope in direct opposition to
  the doctrine of Concialiarism, the belief that
  Gods will was revealed through Church councils,
  not just the Pope alone
• It explains why the Council of Trent took so long
  to form.
• And why it took so long to end. (1545-1563)