Crises in the History of the Papacy: A study of twenty famous popes whose careers and whose influence were important in the development of the church and in the history of the worldMcCabe, Joseph
History
Crises in the History of the Papacy: A study of twenty famous popes whose careers and whose influence were important in the development of the church and in the history of the world
McCabe, Joseph
Catholic Church -- History; Papacy -- History
In September (1541) the Pope met the Emperor at Lucca. Charles insisted
that the council, whatever form it took, must be held in Germany,
but Paul pleaded that he wished to preside in person and that his
age forbade so lengthy a journey. We shall hardly be unjust if we
regard these pleas as pretexts. The forthcoming council was, in the
Pope's view,--an inevitable view,--to be a canonical gathering for
the stricter definition of the doctrines already rejected by the
Reformers; when that council had formulated the faith, the secular
powers must deal with any who dissented from it. Paul still fought
for the holding of the council in Italy, where he could overwhelm the
Protestant envoys, but as it became entirely certain that not a single
Protestant would come to Italy, he spoke of Cambrai, Metz, and other
alternatives, and at length consented to Trent. Still there was much
friction, and many were not yet convinced that the Pope sincerely
desired a reform-council. Francis I. angrily exclaimed that this
council seemed to be an imperial concern, and he refused to publish
the Bull of Convocation. Charles, on the other side, was annoyed to
find that in the Bull he was put on a level with that perfidious ally
of the infidel, Francis I., and he threatened to keep his German
prelates from going to Trent. But the Pope energetically overbore
all opposition, and the historic Council of Trent was announced for
November 1st. In the meantime (July, 1542), the Pope reconstituted
the Inquisition in Italy and put it under the control of the more
fanatical cardinals like Carafa. It was empowered to imprison heretics,
confiscate their goods, and (with the use of the secular arm) to put
them to death. Dr. Pastor deplores that the Vatican authorities still
refuse to allow access to the records of the Roman Inquisition, so that
we are very imperfectly acquainted with its work.
The Papal Legates arrived at Trent with great pomp, on November 22d,
three weeks after the appointed date, yet not a single bishop had
appeared. Six weeks later the arrival of two bishops gave them a
slender satisfaction, but by the end of March not more than a dozen
bishops--and these mostly Italians--had reached the seat of the
council. Neither Germans nor French would come, and the Italians
thought it prudent not to arrive in a body so as to give to the council
a national complexion. In the summer, Paul went to confer with Charles
at Parma, but the issue of their conference was a bitter disappointment
for the Catholic reformers. Paul proposed to suspend the opening of
the council and to transfer it from Trent, and begged the Emperor to
bring about a compromise with France, by yielding Milan to the Pope's
nephew, Ottavio. Charles refused to assent, and Paul, on his own
account, suspended the council and began to look to Francis I. for the
aggrandizement of his family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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