Exam Study Notes: Catholic Orthodoxy and Reformation Chp. 19

Catholic Orthodoxy and Reformation

Blaise Pascal noted the balance between clarity and obscurity in faith: "There is sufficient light for those who wish to see and sufficient darkness for those of the opposite disposition…"

The Council of Trent established Catholic orthodoxy for four centuries and initiated a program of reformation. Internal opposition existed regarding centralization of power, required sacrifices, and concerns about neglecting Augustine's doctrine of grace.

Gallicanism and Opposition to Papal Power

  • The Council of Trent increased the papacy's prestige and power.
  • Growing nationalism and absolute monarchs opposed a centralized church under papal authority.
  • Gallicanism: Opposition to papal authority, strongest in France (named after Gaul).
  • Ultramontanes: Defenders of papal authority, looking "beyond the mountains" (Alps).
  • French monarchy had gained concessions from popes, granting autonomy to the French church.

Condemnation of Febronius' Work

  • France insisted on ancient freedoms of the Gallican church, denying centralizing edicts of Trent.
    • Some Gallicans opposed centralization for political reasons, others believed ecclesiastical authority resided in bishops, not the pope.
  • Decrees of Trent needed promulgation by the crown to be valid in France.
    • Henry IV agreed, but the French parliament blocked it.
    • In 1615, the French clergy (dominated by Altamontanes) validated the council on its own.
  • Febronianism: Advocated that the church is a community of the faithful, with bishops (as representatives) ruling the church; final authority resides in a council of bishops, not the pope.
    • Named after Justin Febronius, pseudonymous author of "The State of the Church and the Legitimate Power of the Roman Pontiff" (1763).
  • Pope Clement XIII condemned Febronius' work as heretical.
    • Some saw it as a way to reunite Catholics and Protestants through a council.
    • Others supported it due to nationalism or to evade reforms dictated by Rome.

The Jesuits' Support

  • Emperor Joseph II implemented reforms, needing church support but not the Tridentine church.
    • He took over clergy education, closed traditional monasteries, founded new churches, and reformed the church as he saw fit (Josephism).
  • Rome condemned Josephism in 1794, after condemning Peyronianism in 1764.
  • The French Revolution ended these movements.
  • Dissolution of the Jesuits: A blow to papal power.
    • The Jesuits, bound to serve the papacy, were not well-regarded by absolutist monarchs.
    • Their support of intolerant policies during the Thirty Years' War hurt their popularity.
    • The House of Bourbon had animosity towards the Jesuits (who supported the House of Habsburg).
  • 1758: Attempt to assassinate Joseph I of Portugal was blamed on the Jesuits.
    • 1759: Expelled from Portugal and its colonies, property confiscated.
    • 1764: Suppressed in France (under Bourbon rule).
    • 1767: Expelled from Spain and its colonies by Charles III.
    • King Ferdinand IV of Naples followed the example of his father, Charles III of Spain.
  • 1769: Bourbon ambassadors demanded the dissolution of the Jesuits to the Pope.
  • 1773: Pope Clement XIV ordered the Society of Jesus dissolved.
  • Gallicanism, Fabrionism, Josephism, and the suppression of the Jesuits demonstrate popes were losing power and authority.

Jansenism

  • The Council of Trent condemned Luther and Calvin on grace and predestination.
  • Concerns arose that extreme reaction against Protestantism could deny Augustine's teachings.
  • Controversies over grace and predestination emerged among Catholics.
  • Jesuits (led by Luis de Molina) affirmed predestination was based on God's foreknowledge.
  • Dominican Domingo Vanez argued this contradicted Augustine.
  • Accusations of Calvinism (against Dominicans) and Pelagianism (against Jesuits) arose.
  • Popes decided both accusations were false and ordered each side to refrain from attacking the other.
  • Michael Baez proposed theses similar to Augustine, arguing sinful will can produce no good, only grace can produce repentance and conversion.
    • 1567: Pope Pius V condemned 79 theses drawn from Bias' writings

Port Royal

  • In 1640, Cornelius Jansenius' book Augustine was published which was an exposition of Augustine's teachings on grace and predestination.
  • In 1643, Jansenius' theses were condemned by Pope Urban VIII due to similarities to Calvin.
  • Jean du Bergier (Saint Serran) and the nuns of the Abbey of Port Royal took up the Jansenist cause in France.
    • The Abbey of Port Royal, under Mother Angelique, became a center of devotion and reformation.
  • Jansenism became more a movement of zealous religious reform than a pure doctrine.
  • Jesuits proposed probabilism (an action is morally acceptable if there is a probability, no matter how slight, that it is correct).
  • French Jansenists viewed this as moral indifferentism; they proposed a life of discipline and rigor.
  • Antoine Arnaud and Blaise Pascal became champions of Jansenism.

Condemnation of Arnaud

  • Blaise Pascal converted to Jansenism at 31.
  • Pascal published 20 provincial letters when the faculty of the Sorbonne condemned Arnaud.
    • The letters were humorous and witty, critical of the Parisian Jesuits, and were added to the index of forbidden books.
  • Jansenism became fashionable in Paris temporarily.
  • Louis XIV opposed such zeal and sectarianism.
  • The assembly of the clergy condemned the movement; the nuns of Port Royal were disbanded.
  • Despite his gallicanism, Louis XIV sought support from Pope Alexander III, who ordered the repudiation of Jansenism.
  • The pendulum swung again: Alexander died, his successor was more lenient; the nuns were allowed to return to Port Royal; there was even talk of making Arnaud a cardinal.

Condemned Jansenism

  • Arnaud was forced into exile and died.
  • Louis XIV became increasingly intolerant, and Pope Clement XI reiterated the condemnation of Jansenism.
  • In 1709, the police took possession of Port Royal, expelled the elderly nuns, and dug up the Abbey Cemetery.
  • In 1713, Clement XI categorically condemned Jansenism in the bull.
  • Jansenism continued, becoming a political and intellectual movement akin to Gallicanism rather than theological.
  • Some lower clergy joined as a protest against the opulence of their superiors.
  • Others used it to oppose Rome's interference in French affairs.
  • Rationalists saw it as a reaction against dogmatic authority.
  • Jansenism disappeared because it became amorphous.

Quietism

  • Another major controversy within Catholicism.
  • 1675: Publication of a spiritual guide by Miguel de Molinos initiated the doctrine of Quietism.
  • Molinos advocated total passivity before God.
  • Believers should "disappear, to die, and be lost in God."
  • Contemplation must be purely spiritual, without physical or visible means, including the humanity of Christ.
  • Ascetic discipline is another form of activism.
  • The soul focused on the divine should consider nothing else, not even the neighbor.
  • Opposition arose: Some argued it was like Muslim mysticism, others that it led to privatism (church and political/social life becoming unimportant).
  • The Inquisition initially supported Melinos, but confessors protested that it led to moral laxity.
  • Rumors circulated that Malinos encouraged laxity among his followers, and his relations with women were questioned.
  • 1685: Malinos and followers were arrested by papal order.

Prison and Madame

  • In his trial before the Inquisition, Malinos refused any defense.
  • He was imprisoned for eleven years rather than condemned to death, to avoid making him a martyr for quietism.
  • Quietism penetrated France, taken up by Madame de Guillaume and Father LaCobbe.
    • Both were given to visions and other mystical experiences.
  • Around them gathered a circle of believers.
  • Madame de Guillaume published a treatise, "A Short and Simple Means of Prayer," and her fame spread.
  • Their admirers included aristocratic women in Paris.
  • Madame de Guillaume's doctrines were questioned: she taught that one might commit sins one despises to offer God a true sacrifice.
  • The archbishop of Paris imprisoned Father Le Cobre and placed Madame de Guillaume in a convent.
  • Le Cobre was carried from one prison to another until he lost his mind and died.

Conclusion

  • Madame de Guillaume was freed and met Bishop Francois of Fenelon, who was won over to her teachings.
  • The issue of quietism became a controversy between Fenelon and , one of the greatest French theologians of the time.
  • Pope Innocent XII rejected some of Fenelon's theses, stating they could lead some to error.
  • Fenelon responded with humility. was condemned as arrogant.
  • Fenelon withdrew to his pastoral duties as archbishop of Cambrai, distributed his possessions among the poor, and led an admirable life (possibly inspiring Victor Hugo’s Monsignor Muriel).
  • These events illustrate Roman Catholicism's reorganization after the Reformation.
  • The Council of Trent defined Catholic orthodoxy; the papacy became the center of ecclesiastical power in theory.
  • Theological controversy took place within Tridentine orthodoxy.
  • Political forces opposed the centralization of ecclesiastical power, leading to Gallicanism, Hebronianism, and Josephism.
  • Opposition to papal power weakened the Catholic church and made it more difficult to respond to the French Revolution.