A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 4Lea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 4
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- Spain
There still remained the publication to Christendom of the new position
assumed by the Holy See towards Mysticism. The sixty-eight propositions,
condemned in the inquisitorial decree of August 28th, were printed in
the vernacular and placed on sale, but were speedily suppressed. There
must still have been opposition in the Sacred College, or on the part of
Innocent XI, for the bull _Coelestis Pastor_ was not drawn up and
signed until November 20th, and was not finally published to the world
until February 19, 1688. This recited the same series of propositions
and the condamnation of Molinos and confirmed the decree of August
28th. The propositions condemned consisted, for the most part, of the
untenable extravagances of Quietism, including impeccability and the
sinlessness of acts committed while the soul was absorbed with God, but
it was impossible to do this without condemning much that had been
taught and practised by the mystic saints, and there were no saving
clauses to differentiate lawful from unlawful converse of the soul with
its Creator. The Church broke definitely with Mysticism, and by
implication gave the faithful to understand that salvation was to be
sought in the beaten track, through the prescribed observances and under
the guidance of the hierarchical organization.[111]
This change of front was emphasized in various ways. Innocent's favor
saved Cardinal Petrucci from formal prosecution; to the vexation of the
Inquisition, his case was referred to four cardinals, Cibò, Ottoboni,
Casanate and Azzolini; he professed himself ready to retract whatever
the pope objected to and, though the Inquisition held an abjuration to
be necessary, he was not required to make it; he was relegated to Jesi
and then recalled to Rome, where he was kept under surveillance. He
could not, moreover, escape the mortification of seeing the books, which
had been so warmly approved, condemned by a decree of February 5, 1688.
Many other works, which had long passed current as recognized aids to
devotion, were similarly treated--those of Benedetto Biscia, Juan
Falconi, François Malaval and of numerous others--even the _Opera della
divina Gratia_ of the Dominican Tommaso Menghini, himself
Inquisitor-general of Ferrara and author of the _Regole del Tribunal del
Santo Officio_, which long remained a standard guide in the tribunals.
What had been accepted as the highest expression of religious devotion
had suddenly become heresy.[112] Apparently it was not until May, 1689,
that instructions were sent everywhere to demand the surrender of all
books of Molinos and to report any one suspected of Molinism.[113]
[Sidenote: _THE BECCARELLISTI_]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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