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AD 1542 - Council of Trent (Tridentine Council)

The council of Trent (- Tridentine council) was for more than 3 centuries, until 1869, the great council of the Roman Catholic church. It was closely connected with the Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther in 1518 appealed to a general council; and from that time efforts were made, especially in Germany, to induce the pope to call such a council. But wars and other obstacles intervened; and after pope Paul III issued his bull convoking the council to meet at Trent, November 1, 1542, war broke out afresh between the emperor and the king of France, so that the council was not opened by the papal legates till December 13, 1545. The place of meeting was the church of Santa Maria Maggiore (=. St. Mary the Greater) in the city of Trent, which has a population of about 13,000, and is situated in that part of modern Austria called the Tyrol, 67 miles N. W. of Venice, and about 250 miles N. of Rome". It was fixed on for the meeting of the council, because this region was then a sort of neutral ground between Germany and Italy.

At the opening of the council there were present, besides the 3 papal legates and the cardinal bishop of Trent, only 4 archbishops, 20 bishops, and 5 general superiors of monastic orders; but other prelates came in gradually, and 8 sessions were held up to and including that of March 11,1547, when the only business done was to pass, by a vote of 38 to 18, a decree of the papal legate transferring the council to Bologna on" account of an alleged epidemic in Trent. Two formal sessions were held in Bologna; but, by the pope's order, no decrees except of prorogation were there promulgated, as the emperor opposed the transfer to this city, and insisted on a return to Trent where he detained the 18 German and Spanish bishops.

Pope Paul III., by his bull of September 17, 1549, indefinitely prorogued the council; but he died in November following, and his successor Julius III., who had presided over the council as Cardinal del Monte, first papal legate, published a bull the next year, by which the council was reopened at Trent on the 1st of May, 1551. Six sessions of the council were now held in Trent; but in the 16th session, held April 28, 1552, the council was again adjourned for two years on account of the civil war in Germany between the emperor and Maurice of Saxony, who was at the head of a Protestant army and in league with the French king. Before it reassembled, 3 popes died, viz., Julius III, and his successors, Marcellus II and Paul IV.

At last, pope Pius IV. having issued his bull for this purpose, the council was solemnly reopened in the cathedral of Trent, January 18, 1562, by the papal legates, Cardinal Gonzaga (who died the next year) being president. Nine more sessions were then held, the 25th and last session on the 3d and 4th of December, 1563, almost 18 years after the opening session in 1545. At this last session, there were present 4 cardinals as papal legates (Cardinal Morone presiding in the pope's name), 2 other cardinals (of Trent and Lorraine), 3 patriarchs, 25 archbishops, 168 bishops, 39 procurators of absent prelates, 7 abbots, and 7 generals of religious orders-in all, 255 prelates, who signed the decrees.

The acceptance of the decrees by the ambassadors was then asked and given, except by the Spanish ambassadors, whose king opposed the closing of the council, and the French, who had withdrawn in displeasure. The decrees were confirmed by a bull of pope Pius IV. issued January 26,1564 ; and were accepted and promulgated in all the Roman Catholic states of Europe, except Prance. Says the Catholic World, "In the name of Gallican liberties and royal privileges, the disciplinary portion was not published in France. Most of the measures were actually adopted by the bishops in provincial councils; but the seed of great evils was sown." In other countries, however, more or less opposition was made to certain decrees which interfered with civil or political authority ; and king Philip of Spain ordered his viceroys to suspend the execution of them in the kingdom of Naples and the duchy of Milan.

The following " accurate synopsis " of the work of the council is from " The Catholic World," for October, 1869, which, in turn, derives it from the oration of bishop Jerome Ragazzoni, orator at the last session. "In matters of faith, after the adoption of the venerable creed sanctioned by antiquity [the so-called Nicene creedj, the council drew up a catalogue of the inspired books of the Old and New Testament, and approved the old received Latin version of the Hebrew and Greek originals. It then passed to decide the questions that had been raised concerning the fall of man. Next, with admirable wisdom and order, it laid down the true Catholic doctrine of justification. The sacraments then claimed attention, and their number, their life-giving power through grace, and the nature of each one, were accurately defined. The great dogma of the blessed eucharist was fully laid down ; the real dignity of the Christian altar and sacrifice was vindicated; and the moot question of communion under one or two kinds settled both in theory and practice.

"Lastly, the false accusations of opponents were dispelled, and Catholic consciences gladdened by the enunciations on indulgences, purgatory, the invocation and veneration of saints, and the respect to be paid to their relics and images. The decision on so many important and difficult questions was no light task, and of the utmost importance.

A 'hard and fast line' was drawn between heresy and truth; and if the wayward were not all converted, the little ones of Christ were saved from the danger of being led astray. In her greatest trial the church gave no uncertain sound. Nations might rage, and the rulers of the earth meditate rash things; but the truth of God did not abandon her, and she fearlessly proclaimed it in her council. In regard to some abuses in practical matters, dependent on dogma, from which the innovators had seized a pretext to impugn the true faith, a thorough reform was decreed. Measures were taken to prevent any impropriety or irreverence in the celebration of the divine sacrifice, whether from superstitious observances, greed of filthy lucre, unworthy celebrants, profane places, or worldly concomitants.

"The different orders of ecclesiastics were accurately distinguished, and the exclusive rights and duties of each one clearly defined; some impediments of matrimony, which had been productive of evil rather than good, were removed, and most stringent regulations adopted to prevent the crying wrongs to which confiding innocence and virtue had been subjected under the pretext of clandestine marriages. All the abuses connected with indulgences, the veneration of the saints, and intercession for the souls of purgatory, were fully and finally extirpated. Nor was less care taken in regard to purely disciplinary matters. Measures were taken to insure, as far at least as human frailty would permit, the elevation of only worthy persons to ecclesiastical dignities; and stated times were appointed for the frequent and efficient preaching of the word of God, too much hitherto neglected, the necessity of which was insisted on with earnestness and practical force. The sacred duty of residence among their flocks was impressed on bishops and all inferiors having the care of souls; proper provision was made for the support of needy clergymen, and all privileges which might protect heresy or crime were swept away.

"To prevent all suspicion of avarice in the house of God, the gratuitous administration of the sacraments was made compulsory ; and measures were taken to put an effectual stop to the career of the questor [of indulgences and alms], by abolishing the office. Young men destined for the priesthood were to be trained in ecclesiastical seminaries ; provincial synods were restored, and regular diocesan visitations ordered; many new and extended faculties were granted to the local authorities, for the sake of better order and prompter decision ; the sacred duty of hospitality was inculcated in all clerics ; wise regulations were passed to secure proper promotions to ecclesiastical benefices ; all hereditary possession of God's sanctuary prohibited ; moderation prescribed in the use of the power of excommunication ; luxury, cupidity, and license, as far as possible, exiled from the sanctuary; most holy and wise provisions adopted for the better regulation of the religious of both sexes, who were judiciously shorn of many of their privileges, to the proper development of episcopal authority; the great ones of the world were warned of their duties and responsibilities. These and many other similar measures, were the salutary, efficient, and lasting reforms with which God, at last taking mercy on his people, inspired the fathers of Trent, legitimately congregated under the presidency and guidance of the apostolic see."

Such was the great work done by the council. The usual complaint of Protestants against the council was, and is, that it was too much under papal influence. Now one of the most notable features of its legislation is the great increase of the power of bishops. Not only was their ordinary authority confinnel and extended, but they were made in many cases, some of them of no little importance, perpetual delegates of the apostolic see, so that Philip II of Spain is reported to have said of his bishops, that "they went to Trent as parish priests, and returned like so many popes." Such was the great work of the Council of Trent.

According to the Catholic Church, Baptism cancels not only personal sins but also original sin, and therefore even infants are baptized for the remission of sins (cf. the essential texts of the Council of Trent, DH 1513-1515). This remission of original sin is not accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which denies the existence of this sin and therefore baptizes only persons who have the use of reason and are at least eight years old, excluding the mentally handicapped (cf. AF, pp. 113-116). In fact, the practice of the Catholic Church in conferring Baptism on infants is one of the main reasons for which the Mormons say that the Catholic Church apostatized in the first centuries, so that the sacraments celebrated by it are all invalid.

In the Mormon understanding Baptism was not instituted by Christ but by God and began with Adam (cf. Book of Moses 6:64). Christ simply commanded the practice of this rite; but this was not an innovation. It is clear that the intention of the Church in conferring Baptism is certainly to follow the mandate of Christ (cf. Mt 28,19) but at the same time to confer the sacrament that Christ had instituted. According to the New Testament, there is an essential difference between the Baptism of John and Christian Baptism. The Baptism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which originated not in Christ but already at the beginning of creation (James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [AF], Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1990, cf. pp. 110-111), is not Christian Baptism; indeed, it denies its newness. The Mormon minister, who must necessarily be the "priest" (cf. D&C 20:38-58.107:13.14.20), therefore radically formed in their own doctrine, cannot have any other intention than that of doing what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does, which is quite different in respect to what the Catholic Church intends to do when it baptizes, that is, the conferral of the sacrament of Baptism instituted by Christ, which means participation in his death and resurrection (cf. Rom 6,3-11; Col 2,12-13).