CATHOLIC RESPONSE TO THE PROTESTANT REVOLT: THE COUNCIL OF TRENT (1545-1563)
Pope Paul III called for a council and the Council of Trent acted on three main fronts: doctrinal, disciplinary and liturgical.
On the DOCTRINAL side, the Council defined many Catholic teachings in a definitive way. The teachings of the Council are summed up in the Roman Catechism (also called the Catechism of the Council of Trent). [Click here for alternative site.] This was compiled by Saint Robert Bellarmine and Saint Peter Canisius. The Council also obliged priests to preach on Sundays and holy days of obligation so as to impart doctrinal formation to the ordinary faithful.
On the DISCIPLINARY aspect, the Council corrected abuses. The Council established diocesan seminaries for the spiritual, doctrinal and cultural formation of the clergy.
In the LITURGICAL aspect, the Breviary and the Roman Missal were revised.
Fr Pirlo (My First History of the Church, pp 136-137) explains the role of SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO (the patron saint of Karol Wojtyla--later John Paul II) and SAINT PHILIP NERI in the Catholic Reform:
The hard task of implementing the Council's deliberations was undertaken by SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO (1538-1584). A man of talent and deep spirituality, he was the Pope's secretary during the Council, before being appointed Archbishop of Milan. In a time when cardinals enjoyed a luxurious life and expensive horses, he was used to an austere manner of living, eating most of the times bread and water alone. Among his important achievements were the reorganisation of his diocese, the regular pastoral visit to the parishes, the opening of seminaries, catechetical schools, hospitals, and centres of assistance for the poor. In 1576, during a deadly epidemic, he proved heroic dedication to the people, unmindful of the dangers to his life. His resolution to promote Catholic reform brought opposition from corrupted people. One day, when he was about to visit a church, one of his enemies opened fire and only damaged the cross in his hands. Another time, a hired assassin fired at him point-blank while he knelt in prayer, but Saint Charles was miraculously saved. He died at the age of 46 (1584) and was canonised a few years later. Borromeo became the model for every Bishop and priest in the reformed Catholic Church. [Read up more on Saint Charles Borromeo.]
Another great reformer was SAINT PHILIP NERI (1515-1595). A most pious and humble priest, he set out to re-evangelise the Church of Rome which was afflicted by corruption and abuses. Because of his cheerful and loving character he became very popular among the street children of Rome, who nicknamed him Pippo Buono (Good Little Philip). For them he organised the Oratory, where the poor children spent their time in singing, studying the Bible, learning the life of the saints, and visiting churches and catacombs. His days were for the poor and the street children, but the nights were for the Lord. His popular sense of humour, united with inspiring holiness, made him an excellent confessor for people of every age and rank, including cardinals and princes. The day of his death, in 1595, Saint Philip was in a radiant happy mood as usual, and said cheerfully to his friends: "Last of all, we must die." [Read up more on Saint Philip Neri.]
POPES OF THE POST-REFORMATION
POPE ST PIUS V (1504-1566) Through his exemplary life, he inspired others to carry on with the reform. Ordained a Dominican, he fasted, did penance, spent many hours in meditation and prayer at night, traveled on foot without a cloak in deep silence, or only speaking to his companions of the things of God. Once elected Pope, his piety did not cease, doing at least two meditations a day on his knees in presence of the Blessed Sacrament. (He continued to use his Dominican habit after his election, and this is why Popes wear the white Dominican cassock up to this day.) He visited the sick, consoling them and preparing them to die. He washed the feet of the poor, and embraced the lepers. He was very austere, raised the standard of morality, and worked with his very good friend, St Charles Borromeo, to reform the clergy. He obliged his bishops to reside in their dioceses, and the cardinals to lead lives of simplicity and piety. He enforced the recommendations of the Council of Trent and supported the missions in the New World. It was during his pontificate that the Turks were defeated in the Battle of Lepanto (7 October 1571). Because of this, he instituted the feast of the Rosary, and added to the Litany of Loreto the supplication "Help of Christians". [Read up more on Saint Pope Pius V.]
POPE GREGORY XIII (1502-1585) Though his past life was not exemplary (he had fathered a child with an unmarried woman and even after becoming a priest was worldly-minded), once elected Pope at the age of seventy, he pursued the reforms of the Council and strove to imitate his saintly predecessor. He is best known for his reform of the calendar. After consulting with astronomers, he reformed the Julian calendar. In the change to the Gregorian calendar the 5th of October 1582 became the 15th of October. [Read more on Pope Gregory XIII.]
RELIGIOUS ORDERS HELP RENEW THE CHURCH
The CAPUCHINS, a branch of the Franciscans, returned to the original spirit of poverty of Saint Francis and spread the faith abroad. The Capuchins are a reform of the Friars Minor (also known as Observants or Recollects), who had separated from the Conventual Friars Minor. Together with the Jesuits, the Capuchins were the most effective preachers and missionaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They tried to go back to the simple preaching style of Saint Francis. They also did a lot to help people during the pestilence. It was their great charity that endeared them to ordinary people, though some of them died in the process. Aside from preaching and ministering to the sick, they were also known as confessors. [Click here for more details about the Capuchins.]
The SOCIETY OF JESUS were another great force for reform. Founded by SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA (1491-1556), ardent and fearless yet restrained and prudent. The Jesuits profess fidelity to the Pope. They increase rapidly, specialising in education and evangelisation. Among the outstanding Jesuits are SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER (1506-1552) and MATTEO RICCI (1552-1610). St Francis Xavier preached in India (1542-1545), Malacca (1545, 1547-1549), Moluccas Islands (1546), Japan (1549-1552). He tried to go to China, but died in the island of Sancian on the southern coast of the Middle Kingdom. In a short span of ten years (6 May, 1542 - 2 December, 1552) he had visited so many countries, preached the Gospel to so many peoples, and converted so many. [Read up more on Saint Ignatius, Saint Francis Xavier, and Matteo Ricci.]
MYSTICS OF THE POST-REFORMATION
SAINT TERESA OF AVILA (1515-1582) A mystic, Doctor of the Church, spiritual writer. She reformed the Carmelites. She was tried by the Inquisition upon complaints regarding her reform efforts. Among her works, The Interior Castle can compare with Saint Augustine's Confessions. Another well-known work is The Way of Perfection. [Read more about Saint Teresa of Avila.]
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS (1500-1569). He preached a rigorous spirituality and served as spiritual adviser to Teresa of Avila. He was much misunderstood, even imprisoned in a cell in Toledo. He wrote several well-known works, the most famous of which is The Dark Night of the Soul. Many centuries later, Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II) would write his doctoral thesis on Saint John of the Cross. [Read more on Saint John of the Cross.]
THE NEW WORLD
Spanish, Portuguese, English and French expeditions discover new routes around South Africa and South America. Spain and Portugal led explorations into South America, Mexico, and the US Southwest, while France ventured into Canada and the Mississippi River. These expeditions were accompanied by Jesuit, Franciscan, and Dominican missionaries. Puritans from England settle in New England and Virginia.
RELIGIOUS WARS
Unlike in previous centuries when one country had one sole religion, Protestantism brought with it not only religious divisions, but also political disputes. From 1562 to 1568, wars of religion raged in France between the Catholics and the Huguenots (Protestants). The Edict of Nantes (1598) granted freedom to the Huguenots. But peace was only temporary.
From 1618 to 1648, the Thirty Years' War involved many European nations. This was settled in the Peace of Westphalia (1648) where it was determined that the ruler of the kingdom will determine the religion of the land.
CHALLENGES TO THE FAITH
JANSENISM (1585-1638). Cornelius Jansen was bishop of Ypres, Belgium. He taught that man is inherently sinful and taught a form of Calvinism where only a few will be saved. He promoted moral austerity. This heresy was condemned in 1713 by Pope Clement XI. [Read up more on Jansen.]
THE ENLIGHTENMENT: REASON OVER FAITH. Protestantism brought about the rise of new religions. This made people very wary of spiritual things. They started to look for solutions in human reasoning to provide the answers for intellectual, political, scientific, and philosophical issues. This is the Age of Enlightenement which arose in the 1700s. It encouraged the rise of the experimental sciences.
GALILEO (1564-1642). Following the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), he also taught that the sun was the centre of the solar system. His teaching was officially condemned. It should be noted, however, that since the Church was not speaking on a matter of faith or morals, the condemnation was not justified. Many centuries later, Pope John Paul II rehabilitated Galileo. [Read here a summary of the Galileo case.]
RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650) AND RATIONALISM. Rene Descartes was a Catholic mathematician who wanted to defend the Church by coming up with a system which could not be thrown into doubt. However, the method that he used brought a crisis into philosophy because he started with doubt itself. Unlike previous Christian philosophers who used reality as a starting point, he used thought as a point of departure. That made everything subjective. This is the beginning of relativism.
VOLTAIRE (1694-1778). He is the proponent of Deism, which teaches that God is the Supreme Architect, but he does not participate in the actual building of the world. It is up to man to build it himself. His thought thus results in practical atheism. Masonry is born from Deism.
ROSSEAU (1712-1778). He was a philosopher and influential political theorist. He claimed that man is good by nature, but society corrupts him. He thus comes up with the idea of law and government based on the will of the people. This becomes the basis for the American and the French Revolutions.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON (1789-1815). The Bastille was the symbol of royal tyranny in france. On 14 July 1789, the French Revolution broke out with the seizure of the Bastille. What was the purpose of the revolution? Its leaders wanted to get rid of the old ruling system (based on the feudal privileges of nobles and churchmen) and establish in its place a new social order based on liberty, fraternity and equality. They executed King Louis XVI and established the Republic of France. A persecution broke out against the Church because of many scandals and it was seen as allied to the aristocracy. Many Church properties were confiscated and distributed to farmers. Priests were compelled to leave the priesthood and to marry. A new calendar was established where Sundays and the feasts of saints had been removed.
Napoleon Bonaparte led the French Army against the countries that opposed the French Republic. In order to gain Catholic support, he left Pope Pius VI free, but in 1798 he had him arrested and imprisoned in France. Pope Pius VI died in prison in 1799.
Napoleon had himself crowned emperor in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. When he tried to invade Russia in 1812, half a million soldiers were either killed by the Russians or froze to death in the harsh winter conditions. He was finally defeated in the Battle of Waterloo (1815). He died in exile in the island of St Helena (1821).
INDUSTRIALISATION AND THE CHURCH IN THE 1800s
About the year 1800, a social transformation was taking place in England. This social transformation was brought about by technological advances: the discovery of electricity and petroleum, and the invention of the steam engine and machines that made mass production possible. This led to masses of people moving to cities to work in factories. Unfortunately, these workers--with minors among them--were exploited. Misery, corruption and moral degradation set in. Time was ripe for another revolution.
Father Pirlo (My First History of the Church, pp 159-161) writes:
In 1848 the German philosopher Karl Marx, with the pamphlet "The Communist Manifesto", invited all the proletarian workers to unite in a violent revolution against their oppressors. His purpose was to eliminate the injustices of the capitalist aristocracy and to establish a communist socety. The Church, considered as "the opium of the people" and an ally of capitalism, was to be eliminated as well. Marx's "Manifesto" closed with the famous words: "The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries, unite!"
The Church's social teaching, which was synthesised in the encyclical "Rerum Novarum" of Pope Leo XIII (1891), opposed both capitalism and communism, and asked for a social order based on the Gospel's teaching.
BLESSED POPE PIUS IX (1846-1878)
He was the last pope who had temporal power. It was he who defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 December 1854. He convoked the First Vatican Council from 1869 to 1870, which was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War. This council defined the dogma of papal infallibility. He supported several reforms in the Papal States, which included central Italy, and several outlying areas, such as Assisi, but lost the territory due to the unification of the Kingdom of Italy in 1870 and 1871. Although he had epilepsy at a young age, he was the longest serving Pope next to Saint Peter the Apostle.
Pius IX's cause for beatification was one of the longest and most difficult in Church history. Begun under Pius X on 11 February 1907, re-launched by Benedict XV without much success, later by Pius XI, and then by Pius XII on 7 December 1954. He was finally beatified on 3 September 2000 by Pope John Paul II.
SAINTS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
SAINT ELIZABETH SETON (1774-1821). She was born into a wealthy and influential Episcopalian family and was the mother of five. After the death of her husband, she became an impoverished widow. She was attracted to Catholicism through her belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist and in the lineage of the Church going back to Christ and the Apostles. She entered the Church on 14 March 1805. To support her family, and insure the proper education of her children, she opened a school in Boston. The archbishop invited her to establish a Catholic girl's school in Baltimore, Maryland. This gave birth to the parochial school system in America. To run the system she founded the Sisters of Charity in 1809, the first native American religious community for women.
SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN (1811-1860). Son of a German father and a Czech mother. After finishing his theological studies he decided to go to America. He was welcomed in New York and after ordination, chose the more difficult country area for his pastoral work. After completing the church in a small town, he moved to another where the church was made of logs. There he built himself a small log cabin, rarely lit a fire, slept little, often lived on bread and water, and walked miles to visit farm after remote farm. John's parishioners came from many different countries, but John knew twelve languages, and worked with them all. He joined the Redemptorists, eventually became their superior in America, then Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. There he built 50 churches and the cathedral. He started close to a hundred schools, and the number of parochial school students in his diocese grew from 500 to 9,000. He wrote newspaper articles, two catechisms, and many works in German. He was the first American man and first American bishop to be canonized.
SAINT JOHN MARY VIANNEY (1786-1859). He is the patron saint of confessors and of parish priests. He had a difficult time in his studies. Latin was particularly hard for him. In 1818 he was assigned to the parish of Ars where he began visiting his parishioners, especially the sick and poor. He spent days in prayer, doing penance for his parishioners. Crowds came to hear him preach, and to go for confession because of his reputation with penitents; by 1855 there were 20,000 pilgrims a year to Ars. He spent 40 years as the parish priest.
SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX (1873-1897). Her father was a watchmaker and her mother, who died of cancer when Therese was 4, was a lace maker; both have been declared Venerable by the Church. Therese was cured from an illness at age eight when a statue of the Blessed Virgin smiled at her. She entered the Carmelite convent at age 15. She defined her path to God and holiness as "The Little Way," which consisted of love and trust in God. Her spiritual director required her to write her autobiography (Story of a Soul). Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1997.
MARTYRS IN ASIA
TWENTIETH CENTURY POPES
POPE LEO XIII (1878-1903). Pope Leo XIII was a modern man of his times. He wrote the 1885 encyclical Immortale Dei that explained the position of Catholics as citizens in modern secular, democratic states. In the Encyclical Rerum novarum in 1891, Leo expounded on the Church's social doctrine and warned against the dangers of Marxism. He countered intellectual attacks on Christianity by advancing Thomism, insisting that there is no conflict between science and faith: in the Encyclical Aeterni Patris in 1879 he declared the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas official, and required its study; he founded the institute of Thomistic philosophy at the University of Louvain. He invited scholars to the Vatican secret archives, and reminded Catholic historians that they had to adhere to the truth. He set up the permanent Biblical Commission in 1902, and sponsored the Catholic University at Washington, DC, USA. He was the first pope to have his voice recorded [click here to listen to this recording in YouTube]. The length of his reign, over 25 years, allowed him to appoint many excellent men to the college of cardinals (he created 147).
POPE SAINT PIUS X (1903-1914). He saw an end to Jansenism by lowering the age of first communion from 12 or 14 to 7, and advocated frequent and even daily Communion. He reformed the liturgy, promoted clear and simple homilies, and brought Gregorian chant back to services. He also revised the Breviary, and encouraged teaching of the Catechism. He fought Modernism, calling it as "the summation of all heresies". He worked towards reconciling the state with the Church. He initiated the codification of canon law.
POPE BENEDICT XV (1914-1922). He was elected directly just as World War I was beginning. He maintained a position of neutrality throughout. He sent a representative to each country to work for peace, and in 1917 delivered the Plea for Peace, which demanded a cessation of hostilities, a reduction of armaments, a guaranteed freedom of the seas, and international arbitration. Benedict promulgated the new Code of Canon Law and condemned errors in modern philosophical systems.
POPE PIUS XI (1922-1939). He was an expert mountain climber as well as a patron of learning. He gave an impetus to the propagation of the Faith, sent nuncios to all the leading nations, proclaimed the Holy Year of 1925, issued Encyclicals on the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ, the Institution of the Feast of Christ the King, the Catholic missions, and the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico. On 11 February 1929 the seclusion of the popes in the Vatican ended when the Lateran Treaty was signed establishing Vatican City; a concordat was signed with the Italian government which recognised the Catholic religion.
VENERABLE POPE PIUS XII (1939-1958). The following is from SQPN.com:
He worked for peace both before and throughout World War II. On 24 December 1942 and 2 June 1943, he forcefully denounced the extermination of peoples on account of race. Through the Pontifical Aid Commission, Pius XII operated a vast program of relief to the victims of the war on both sides, but especially to the Jewish people. When Hitler occupied Rome on 10 September 1943, after the fall of the Italian government, the Pope opened Vatican City to Jewish refugees. It is estimated that Pius XII aided more than 1,500,000 refugees, including Jews, throughout the war, especially by granting them Vatican citizenship. Under his encouragement, a vast underground of priests, religious, and laity throughout Italy, served as a pipeline to save Jews and non-Jews alike from the Nazi government. His efforts were so sucessful that the leader of the Jewish community in Rome praised him, and after the war himself converted to Roman Catholicism.
Well-known for his writings, and for beginning the theological preparations for Vatican II almost a decade before it was convened under his successor, Blessed Pope John XXIII. An ardent devotee of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, he consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart in 1942, at the request of Our Lady of Fatima. Established a Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1945. Promoted the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Apostleship of Prayer.
[Click here for video clips of Pius XII: Pacelli's list: How Pius XII and his collaborators took action to save Jews]
ST POPE JOHN XXIII (1958-1963). Pope John promoted social reforms for workers, poor people, orphans, and the outcast (see his Encyclical Mater et Magistra). He advanced dialogue with other faiths and traditions including Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Church of England, and even Shinto. In April 1959, he forbade Catholics to vote for parties supporting Communism. He opened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962.
ST POPE PAUL VI (1963-1978). Pope Paul VI reconvened the Second Vatican Council after the death of Pope John XXIII. He oversaw the implementations of many of its reforms. He instituted an international synod of bishops; bishops were instructed to set up councils of priests in their own dioceses. He established a commission to revise canon law.
He was the first pope in over 150 years to leave Italy. He made trips to the Holy Land (1964), India (1964), the United States (1965)--here he addressed the United Nations, Africa (1969), and Southeast Asia and Australia (1970). He met with Communist leaders, leaders of other churches, and addressed the World Council of Churches them in 1969, reached doctrinal agreements with the Anglicans and Lutherans. He enlarged the college of cardinals, and added cardinals from third world countries. In the face of growing dissent, Pope Paul VI remained steadfast in the faith. In 1968, he issued the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, where he clarified Church teaching on sexuality.
BL POPE JOHN PAUL I (1978). One of the shortest papacies in history. He was installed on the 26th of August of 1978, and died of a heart attack on 28th September of the same year.
ST POPE JOHN PAUL II (1978-2005). As Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, he was asked by Pope Paul VI to assist in the drafting of Humanae Vitae. In 1976 the Pope invited him to preach the lenten sermons to the members of the Papal Household.
Archbishop Wojtyla became the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI. He took the name of his predecessors (John, Paul, John Paul) to emphasize his desire to continue the reforms of the Council.
John Paul II quickly became the most traveled pope in history, having visited nearly every country in the world which would receive him. As the Vicar of Christ he has consecrated each place that he has visited to the Blessed Virgin Mary. On 13 May 1983 he went to Fatima to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He later repeated the consecration of the world to Mary in union with all the Bishops of the Catholic Church, in fulfillment of Our Lady's promises at Fatima.
THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (1962-65)
The Second Vatican Council was convoked by Blessed Pope John XXIII. In his opening address, Pope John explained the reason for the Council as follows:
The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that he sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously. That doctrine embraces the whole of man, composed as he is of body and soul. And, since he is a pilgrim on this earth, it commands him to tend always toward heaven.
What Pope John XXIII wanted was to study the way in which the doctrine was being presented.
The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another. And it is the latter that must be taken into great consideration with patience if necessary, everything being measured in the forms and proportions of a magisterium which is predominantly pastoral in character.
This pastoral character is to to be shown above all in a more gentle approach.
Nowadays however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity. ...the Catholic Church, raising the torch of religious truth by means of this Ecumenical Council, desires to show herself to be the loving mother of all, benign, patient, full of mercy and goodness toward the brethren who are separated from her.
One of the main teachings of the Council was the universal call to holiness.
SAINTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE (1894-1941). He is more known for his martyrdom in Auschwitz, but few people know his missionary zeal and his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. [Click here to read more about him.]
BLESSED MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA (1910-1997) [Click here to read more about her.] [Short video.]
SAINT PADRE PIO OF PIETRELCINA (1887-1968) [Click here to see a YouTube clip about him.]
SAINT JOSEMARÍA ESCRIVÁ DE BALAGUER (1902-1975) Founder of Opus Dei [Click here to read about Opus Dei.] He preached the universal call to holiness starting in 1928. [Click here to read more about him.] [Click here to read his works.]