History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
In the 22nd public session (17th Sept. 1562) decrees were published
concerning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It was laid down that in
place of the sacrifices and the priesthood of the Old Law Christ set
up a new sacrifice, namely the Mass, the clean oblation foretold by
the prophet Malachy (Mal. I., 11) and a new priesthood, to whom the
celebration of the Mass was committed, that the sacrifice of the Mass
is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross having the same high priest
and the same victim, that the Mass may be offered up for the dead as
well as for the living, that it may be offered up in honour of the
Saints, that though the faithful should be advised to receive Holy
Communion whenever they assist at Mass, yet private Masses at which
nobody is present for Communion are not unlawful, and that, though it
was not deemed prudent to allow the sacrifice to be offered up in the
vulgar tongue, it was the earnest wish of the council that priests
should explain the ceremonies of the Mass to the people especially on
Sundays and holidays. The question of allowing the laity to receive
the chalice was discussed at length, and it was decided finally to
submit it to the decision of the Pope. Pius IV. did, indeed, make a
concession on this point in favour of several districts in Austria;
but as the Catholics did not desire such a concession and the
Lutherans refused to accept it as insufficient the indult remained
practically a dead-letter, and later on was withdrawn.
The next session was fixed for November 1562 but on account of very
grave difficulties that arose a much more prolonged adjournment was
rendered necessary. During this interval the old controversies broke
out with greater violence and bitterness, and more than once it
appeared as if the council would break up in disorder; but the
perseverance, tact, and energy of the new legates, Cardinals Morone
and Navagero, strengthened by the prudent concessions made by the
Pope, averted the threatened rupture, and made it possible for the
Fathers to accomplish the work for which they had been convoked.
Cardinal Guise[5] (de Lorraine) accompanied by a number of French
bishops and theologians arrived at Trent in November 1562. His arrival
strengthened the hands of those Spanish bishops who were insisting on
having it defined that the obligation of episcopal residence was /de
jure divino/. The question had been adjourned previously at the
request of the legates, but with the advent of the discussion on the
sacrament of Orders further adjournment was impossible. Several of the
bishops maintained that the obligation must be /jure divino/, because
the episcopate itself was /de jure divino/. From this they concluded
that the bishops had their jurisdiction immediately from Christ, not
mediately through the Pope as some of the papal theologians
maintained. Consequently they asserted that the subordination of the
bishops to the Pope was not, therefore of divine origin, thereby
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