History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 2MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 2
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
Enniscorthy, Moyne, Adare, Monaghan, Donegal, and Dungannon for the
Franciscans; Dunmore, Naas, Murrisk and Callan for the Augustinians,
and Rathmullen, Frankfort, Castle-Lyons and Galway for the Carmelites.
The abuses that existed in the Irish Church at this period arose
mainly from the enslavement of the Church, and they could have been
remedied from within even had there been no unconstitutional
revolution. As a matter of fact those who styled themselves Reformers
succeeded only in transferring to their own sect the main sources of
all previous abuses, namely, royal interference in ecclesiastical
affairs and lay patronage, and by doing so they made it possible for
the Catholic Church in Ireland to pursue its mission unhampered by
outside control. It ought to be borne in mind that the faults of
certain individuals or institutions do not prove that the whole
organisation was corrupt, and that if there were careless and unworthy
bishops, there were also worthy men like the Blessed Thaddeus
MacCarthy of Cloyne, who though driven from his diocese by the
aggression of the nobles, was venerated as a saint both in Ireland and
abroad. The great number of provincial and diocesan synods held in
Ireland during the period between 1450 and 1530 makes it clear that
the bishops were more attentive to their duties than is generally
supposed, while the collections of sermons in manuscript, the use of
commentaries on the Sacred Scriptures and of concordances, the
attention paid to the Scriptures in the great Irish collections that
have come down to us, and the homilies in Irish on the main truths of
religion, on the primary duties of Christians, and on the Lives of the
Irish Saints, afford some evidence that the clergy were not entirely
negligent of the obligations of their office. Had the clergy been so
ignorant and immoral, as a few of those foisted into Irish benefices
undoubtedly were, the people would have risen up against them. And
yet, though here and there some ill-feeling was aroused regarding the
temporalities, probates, fees, rents, rights of fishing, wills, etc.,
there is no evidence of any widespread hostility against the clergy,
secular or regular, or against Rome. The generous grants made to
religious establishments, the endowment of hospitals for the poor and
the infirm, the frequent pilgrimages to celebrated shrines in Ireland
and on the Continent, the charitable and religious character of the
city guilds, and above all the adherence of the great body of the
people to the religion of their fathers in spite of the serious
attempts that were made to seduce them, prove conclusively enough that
the alleged demoralisation of the Irish Church is devoid of historical
foundation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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