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The discipline and administration of theLatin Church underwent important changes from 1517 to 1585 during andCounter-Reformation, specifically at theCouncil of Trent.
The institution of thepapacy underwent attacks by many Protestant reformers, includingMartin Luther. Luther, who had spent time in Rome,[1] claimed that Pope Leo had vetoed a measure that cardinals should restrict the number of boys they kept for their pleasure, "otherwise it would have been spread throughout the world how openly and shamelessly the pope and the cardinals in Rome practice sodomy;" encouraging Germans not to spend time fighting fellow countrymen in defense of the papacy. This allegation (made in the pamphletWarnunge D. Martini Luther/ An seine lieben Deudschen, Wittenberg, 1531 - now available inLuther's Works, Volume 47[2]) is in stark contrast to Luther's earlier praise of Leo's "blameless life" in a conciliatory letter of his to the pope dated 6 September 1520 and published as a preface to hisFreedom of a Christian.[3]
Along with Luther,John Calvin,Thomas Cranmer andJohn Knox identified the RomanPapacy as theAntichrist.[4] The Centuriators ofMagdeburg, a group of Lutheran scholars in Magdeburg headed byMatthias Flacius, wrote the 12-volume "Magdeburg Centuries" to discredit the papacy and identify the pope as the Antichrist. The fifth round of talks in theLutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue notes,
The four most important traditions to emerge directly from the reformation were theLutheran tradition, theReformed/Calvinist/Presbyterian tradition, theAnabaptist tradition, and theAnglican tradition. Subsequent Protestant traditions generally trace their roots back to these initial four schools of the Reformation. It also led to theCounter Reformation within the Roman Catholic Church. Lutherans, Reformed, Anabaptists, and Methodists all included references to the Papacy as the Antichrist in theirconfessions of faith:
Smalcald Articles, Article four (1537)
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537)
Westminster Confession (1646)
The Catholic Church did not mount an organized and deliberate response to the Protestant Reformation until the election (1534) ofPope Paul III, who placed the papacy itself at the head of a movement for churchwide reform. Pope Paul III established a reform commission, appointed several leading reformers to theCollege of Cardinals, initiated reform of the central administrative apparatus atRome, authorized the founding of theJesuits, the order that was later to prove so loyal to the papacy, and convoked theCouncil of Trent, which met intermittently from 1545 to 1563. The council succeeded in initiating a number of far-ranging moral and administrative reforms, including reform of the papacy itself, that was destined to define the shape and set the tone of Roman Catholicism into the mid-20th century.[citation needed]
Such reforms included the foundation ofseminaries for the proper training ofpriests in the spiritual life and thetheological traditions of the Church, the reform ofreligious life to returning orders to their spiritual foundations, and new spiritual movements focused on the devotional life and a personal relationship with Christ, including theSpanish mystics and theFrench school of spirituality.
Pope Paul III (1534–1549) initiated the Council of Trent (1545–1563), a commission of cardinals tasked with institutional reform, to address contentious issues such as corruptbishops and priests,indulgences, and other financial abuses. The Council clearly rejected specific Protestant positions and upheld the basic structure of the Medieval Church, itssacramental system,religious orders, and doctrine. It rejected all compromise with the Protestants, restating basic tenets of the Catholic faith. The Council clearly upheld the dogma ofsalvation appropriated by Christ lived out by faith and works.Transubstantiation, during which the consecrated bread and wine were held to become (substantially) the body andblood of Christ, was upheld, along with theSeven Sacraments. Other practices that drew the ire of Protestant reformers, such as indulgences,pilgrimages, the veneration of saints andrelics, and the veneration of theVirgin Mary were strongly reaffirmed as spiritually vital as well.
But while the basic structure of the Church was reaffirmed, there were noticeable changes to answer complaints that the Counter Reformers tacitly were willing to admit were legitimate. Among the conditions to be corrected by Catholic reformers was the growing divide between the priests and the flock; many members of theclergy in the ruralparishes, after all, had been poorly educated. Often, these rural priests did not knowLatin and lacked opportunities for proper theological training (addressing the education of priests had been a fundamental focus of thehumanist reformers in the past). Parish priests now became better educated, while Papal authorities sought to eliminate the distractions of themonastic churches. Notebooks and handbooks thus became common, describing how to be good priests andconfessors.
Thus, the Council of Trent was dedicated to improving the discipline and administration of the Church. The worldly excesses of thesecularRenaissance church, epitomized by the era ofAlexander VI (1492–1503), exploded in the Reformation underPope Leo X (1513–1521), whose campaign to raise funds in theGerman states to rebuildSt. Peter's Basilica by supporting sale of indulgences was a key impetus forMartin Luther's95 Theses. But the Catholic Church would respond to these problems by a vigorous campaign of reform, inspired by earlier Catholic reform movements that predated theCouncil of Constance (1414–1417):humanism, devotionalism, legalist and the observantine tradition.
The Council, by virtue of its actions, repudiated the pluralism of the Secular Renaissance Church: the organization of religious institutions was tightened, discipline was improved, and the parish was emphasized. The appointment of Bishops for political reasons was no longer tolerated. In the past, the large landholdings forced many bishops to be "absent bishops" who at times were property managers trained in administration. Thus, the Council of Trent combated "absenteeism," which was the practice of bishops living in Rome or on landed estates rather than in their dioceses. The Council of Trent also gave bishops greater power to supervise all aspects of religious life. Zealousprelates such asMilan's ArchbishopCarlo Borromeo (1538–1584), later canonized as a saint, set an example by visiting the remotest parishes and instilling high standards. At the parish level, the seminary-trained clergy who took over in most places during the course of the seventeenth century were overwhelmingly faithful to the church's rule ofcelibacy.
The reign ofPope Paul IV (1555–1559) is associated with efforts of Catholic renewal. Paul IV is sometimes deemed the first of the Counter-Reformation popes for his resolute determination to eliminate all "heresies" - and the institutional practices of the Church that contributed to its appeal. Two of his key strategies were theInquisition and censorship ofprohibited books. The Inquisition, reorganized under Paul III, developed under Paul IV into an awesome instrument, even accused for Catholic cardinalsJacopo Sadoleto,Reginald Pole andGiovanni Morone, who spent several years in inquisition jail. InCalabria a bloodypersecution ofWaldensians was carried out. In Rome,Ignatius of Loyola was openly afraid of Paul IV.[9] The Inquisition was most severe in Spanish controlled areas. There existed a huge difference between the Spanish inquisition and the Papal inquisition,[10] the latter being milder and even sought after, to avoid the Spanish alternative. In this sense, his aggressive andautocratic efforts of renewal greatly reflected the strategies of earlier reform movements, especially the legalist and observantine sides: burning heretics and strict emphasis onCanon law. It also reflected the rapid pace towardabsolutism that characterized the sixteenth century.
While the aggressiveauthoritarian approach was arguably destructive of personal religious experience, a new wave of reforms and orders conveyed a strong devotional side. Devotionalism, not subversivemysticism would provide a strong individual outlet for religious experience, especially through meditation such as the reciting of theRosary. The devotional side of the Counter-Reformation combined two strategies of Catholic Renewal. For one, the emphasis of God as an unknowable absolute ruler - a God to be feared - coincided well with the aggressive absolutism of the papacy under Paul IV. But it also opened up new paths toward popularpiety and individual religious experience.
The Papacy ofSt. Pius V (1566–1572) represented a strong effort not only to crack down against heretics and worldly abuses within the Church, but also to improve popular piety in a determined effort to stem the appeal of Protestantism. Pius V was trained in a solid and austere piety by the Dominicans. It is thus no surprise that he began his pontificate by giving largealms to the poor, charity, and hospitals rather than focusing onpatronage. As pontiff, he practiced the virtues of amonk. Known for consoling the poor and sick, St. Pius V sought to improve the publicmorality of the Church, promote theJesuits, support the Inquisition. He enforced the observance of the discipline of the Council of Trent, and supported the missions of theNew World. TheSpanish Inquisition, brought under the direction of the absolutist Spanish state sinceFerdinand andIsabella, stemmed the growth of Protestantism in Spain before it could spread.
The pontificate ofPope Sixtus V (1585–1590) opened up the final stage of the Catholic Reformation characteristic of theBaroque age of the early seventeenth century, shifting away from compelling to attracting. His reign focused on rebuilding Rome as a great European capital and Baroque city, a visual symbol for the Catholic Church.[citation needed]
