THE COUNCIL OF TRENT TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Internet Site E-mail: traditio@traditio.com, Web Page: http://www.traditio.com Copyright 1995 CSM. Reproduction prohibited without authorization. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT I THE HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL You know, a time will come when a man will no longer be able to say, 'I speak Latin and am a Christian' and go his way in peace. There will come frontiers, frontiers of all kinds -- between men -- and there will be no end to them. [John Osborne, Luther, 2:4, spoken by Tommaso Cardinal Cajetan to Martin Luther] Such was Cardinal Cajetan's prophetic statement to Martin Luther predicting the end of European Christendom after the dawning of the Era of Protestantism. In the 15th century just previous, the Church had soared with the High Renaissance, and a new spirit of Christian Humanism had captured Catholic life, led by such lights of the Church as St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher. Yet within a century Protestantism had separated half the souls of Europe from the Catholic Church. Lutheranism or Calvinism became the state religion in most of the countries of central and northern Europe. The Church of English entered into schism from Rome and then became protestantized under King Henry VIII. Such was the climate in which was convened in 1545 the Nineteenth Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church, the Council of Trent. This year we celebrate the 450th anniversary of this council, so it is fitting to reflect on the significance and teaching of this great council. In fact, Trent has been called the most important council of the Western Church, having had such an influence over Catholic doctrine and practice that over 300 years passed before another council was held. In this series of three sermons, we shall review, within the contraints of the limited time, first the purpose of the Council, then its teachings, and finally the great saints who spread the Council's teaching through the world and through the succeeding centuries. Before we begin, we should draw an important distinction between the Council of Trent, which was a dogmatic council, and Vatican II, which was a pastoral council. A dogmatic council defines for all time essential principles of the Faith, and requires the assent of the faithful to its teachings when promulgated by the pope. A pastoral council has no such doctrinal authority and may even be revised or rescinded at a later date. Not that the Council of Trent failed to treat pastoral concerns. Quite the contrary. When Pope Paul III summoned the Council to the northern Italian city of Trent, an area outside of papal control, it was thought that the Protestants might be drawn back to the Church. In fact, during the second session of the Council, Protestant delegates were present, but presented demands that were unacceptable to the Council. Apparently, even a saint like Francis de Sales and the Catholic emperor thought that compromises could be made with the Protestants in matters not essential to the faith. Shortly, however, they realized that the division in essential doctrine had grown so deep in just thirty years that such measures were fruitless. The Council did its work over a period of 18 years, although for all but four of those years the Council's sessions were suspended because of epidemic or war. When the Council ended in 1564, the Council of Trent had given to the Church for all time clear definitions of Catholic doctrine to refute the rampant errors circulating. It had also concerned itself with reforming Christian life and ecclesiastical discipline that had sunk to a low ebb. The corruption in the Church, which extended even to the papacy itself, had been one of the principal causes of Protestant revolt. In many ways, the challenge that the Council of Trent had to face parallels the challenge to the Faith in our own times. Doctrinal confusion and laxity in the Christian life, even corruption in the Church, are not unknown today. At the time of the Council of Trent, there were those who wished to abandon long-standing practices of the Church in order to appease attacks upon the Church. The Austrian king even asked the Council to legalize marriage for priests and to permit the reception of Holy Communion under both species, both of which violated the long-standing tradition of the Western Church. Yet the Council rejected such requests and confounded some dire predictions for the continuance of the Faith. As it turned out, the Council's strong defense of orthodox Catholic doctrine and its insistence upon living the Christian life renewed the confidence of the hierarchy and the faithful in the future of the Catholic Church and inflammed a great renewal, lasting four centuries -- in missionary activity, the liturgy, the devotional life of the Church, and the religious instruction of the people. In the second sermon in this series, we shall review the teachings of this great council, which treated almost every essential doctrine of the Catholic Church and proclaimed for all time the truths of the Roman Catholic Faith. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT II THE DOCTRINE OF THE COUNCIL In the first sermon in this series of three sermons on the 450th anniversary of the Council of Trent, we reviewed the significance of this great council, called the most important council of the Western Church, and considered the historical circumstances that led to it. In this second sermon of the series, we shall look at the teaching that emanated from the Council, teaching that defines the Roman Catholic Faith just as much today as it did in the 16th century. Chief among the Council's doctrinal pronouncements must be considered those concerning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In 1500 years Martin Luther had been the first person who dared to reform the Sacred Liturgy of the Church in any essential way. He denied that the Mass was the renewal of the sacrifice of our Lord on Calvary and denied the Real Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as taught by the Church. Protestantism therefore substituted for the immemorial Latin Mass of Tradition new vernacular communion services memorializing the Last Supper. Thereby, Protestantism broke its link to the liturgy that had been handed down from apostolic times and had remained essentially unchanged from then. The Council of Trent in opposition to these new Protestant services maintained what it called "the ancient faith, which is founded on the holy Gospel, the traditions of the Apostles, and the teaching of the holy Fathers" (session XXII, chapter ix). That ancient faith taught that the Mass is a sacrificial act by which Christ, through the ministry of the priest, offers Himself to God in an unbloody manner under the appearances of bread and wine. To ensure the continuity with the Apostolic faith, the Council decreed that the Traditional Latin Mass was to be celebrated uniformly everywhere and condemned with excommunication anyone who said that the Mass ought to be celebrated in the vernacular tongue only (session XXII, chapter viii). Against Protestantism, which recognized the authority of the Bible alone, as interpreted by personal opinion, the Council confirmed Tradition together with the Bible the two sources of divine revelation. Moreover, in matters pertaining to faith and morals, the Bible was to be interpreted not by each person's opinion, but uniformly through the teaching authority Christ gave to His Church. St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, was declared to be the authentic version of the Scriptures to be used in the Western Church. Against Protestantism, which taught that man has no free will, but that God has predestined each one of us to heaven or to hell, regardless of what good or evil we ourselves might do in this life, the Council taught that divine grace and the cooperation of our free will can work together to justify us in the sight of God. In a plethora of doctrinal pronouncements, the Council confirmed the traditional teaching of the Church on Original Sin, the Seven Sacraments, Purgatory, the veneration of the saints, sacred images, and indulgences. In our time, it is interesting to note, virtually all of these doctrines, so forthrightly confirmed and proclaimed by the Council of Trent as the constant teaching of the Catholic Church from Apostolic times, are the again the subject of denial on the part of many, even in the Church, just as they were in the 16th century. But this great Council treated not only the doctrine of the Church but Church discipline and practice as well. The Council made every effort to suppress the abuses that existed in the life of the Church at the time and aimed to ensure the most effective pastoral care of the Christian people. It took steps to see that bishops dedicated themselves to their ministry and provided for more effective intellectual and spiritual training of the clergy, joined with a high standard of morality. Even today, the Church of our time, which around the world is again rocked by moral scandal and prelates who seem to have lost the true Catholic faith, could learn much from the wisdom of the Council of Trent. Such, in broad outline, was the reforming work of the Council, which is impressive in its doctrinal clarity and scope even from our perspective 450 years later. The Council did not succeed in abolishing the religious differences generated by Protestantism, but it did prove that the Church could reform herself and maintain her spiritual life once again in the minds and hearts of her clergy and people. In the third and final sermon in this series, we shall recall the great flowering of the Roman Catholic faith that was produced by this great Council, particularly through the many saints whose lives were dedicated to propagating the Council's work in the life of the Catholic clergy and people. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT III THE SAINTS OF THE COUNCIL In the second sermon in this series of three sermons on the 450th anniversary of the Council of Trent, we looked at the teaching that emanated from this great council, teaching that defines the Roman Catholic Faith just as much today as it did in the 16th century. In this third and final sermon of the series, we will recall the lives and work of the great saints who dedicated themselves to propagating the work of the Council in the life of the Church's clergy and people. Foremost among these stands Pope St. Pius V (1566-1572), the last pope to be canonized until Pope St. Pius X this century. It was with extreme reluctance that Pope Pius accepted the papal office. This holy pope was elected against the expectation of all and upon assuming the papal office, changed nothing in his mode of living except his exterior habit. He immediately proceeded to reform the papal household, the papal administration, and the clergy and people of the city of Rome. He showed no favoritism except to virtue. He inspired the clergy to zeal in propagating the faith as defined by the Council of Trent, which had concluded just two years previous. He carried out the decree of the Council that the Traditional Roman Rite of Mass be codified and purged of any regional differences. To bring this about, he issued the Papal Bull entitled Quo Primum, in which he enshrined the Traditional Latin Mass for all time with the following words: By virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We give and grant in perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal may be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used.... We likewise order and declare that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into altering this Missal; and that this present Constituion can never be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the force of law.... In addition to the traditional Roman Missal, which sits upon this altar, Pope Pius codified the Roman Breviary, the book of the Divine Office that every priest is bound to recite daily, and the Roman Ritual, the book that is used in the conferral of sacraments and blessings. Yet such papal decrees would have been useless if the work of the Council had not inflammed the hearts of many saints to carry them forth into the spiritual life of the Church. Foremost among these was St. Charles Borromeo, a pious and gifted church administrator. He had played a prominent part in organizing the last session of the Council, but his most significant role was in the composition of the Roman Catechism, otherwise known as the Catechism of the Council of Trent. Under the direction of this saint and scholar, the Roman Catechism was carefully composed and edited by the greatest theologians and Latin stylists of the time. It has served since then as the basis of many other subordinate catechisms such as the Baltimore series used in this country. Pius V published the catechism in the hope that, as he said in his apostolic letter, "as there is one Lord, one faith, there may also be one standard and prescribed form of propounding the dogmas of faith and instructing Christians in all the duties of piety." In addition to St. Pius and St. Charles, almighty God blessed the work of the Council of Trent by sending literally a flood of saints to carry the Council's dogma and reforms throughout the Church and the world. Among these were Popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V, who vigorously carried out the Council's reforms; St. Philip Neri, who cared for the physical and spiritual lives of the people of Rome; St. Peter Canisius, who fought for the faith against the inroads of Protestantism in Germany; St. Teresa of Avila, who with St. John of the Cross reformed the spiritual lives of religious; St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane, who revived traditional devotion among the people; St. Vincent de Paul, who organized Christian charitable works for the poor; and many, many more. Perhaps the best comment on the work accomplished by the Council of Trent was made by the fathers of Vatican I (1869) some 300 years later. They pronounced as follows: The salutary providence of Christ has been most clearly manifested in the abundant fruits that have accrued to the Christian world from the Ecumenical Councils, and especially from that of Trent, though it was held in evil times. For the result has been that the sacred dogmas of religion have been more exactly defined and more fully stated; errors have been condemned and repressed; ecclesiastical discipline has been restored and placed on a firmer basis; the cultivation of knowledge and piety has been fostered among the clergy; colleges have been founded to train youths for the clerical ranks; and morality has been revived among the Chrstian people by the more accurate instruction of the faithful and the greater frequentation of the Sacraments. Now, 450 years later, we see how almighty God has truly blessed the work of the great Council of Trent through the many fruits it has produced in the faith and life of the Catholic Church, not only in its own time, but even to the present day -- even here in this very chapel.