Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Religious Factors
The popes of the 19th century were deeply influenced by factors that were already underway prior to their time. This is our summary of the religious factors.
CONTENTS
1. Character of the Papacy
This was a down-time in the popular esteem of the papacy. It had lost much of its international savvy.
The potential accomplishments of the popes were quite limited. That was because the men elected to be pope were often in their mid-60s.
During one Conclave, a cardinal said his favorite candidate would not be pleasing to the king.
2. The Clergy
Italy and Spain had the most clerics. However, those clerics were not distributed well. For example, in southern Italy, there were 50,000 clerics. Some parts of France were like this as well.
Due to that avalanche of clerics, the complaint arose that the people were “priest-ridden.”
In northern Spain it was common for priests to be in a sexual relationship with a woman. And possibly to have children with her.
In Spain the reforms of the Council of Trent were not implemented well. That was because the king of Spain was in charge of the church in Spain.
In those days, Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) emerged as a great moral theologian. He hoped to raise up a generation of great confessors.
Preachers were able to deliver flowery sermons. But those sermons made very little difference in the lives of people.
3. Jansenism
Jansenism was a Catholic theological movement. It tried to reconcile free will and divine grace, or free will and predestination.
The movement produced a rigorous attitude toward confession and absolution that might be summed up with these words:
O Lord I am not worthy!
The founder of Jansenism was a Dutch bishop named Cornelius Jansen. In his writings, Jansen attacked a Jesuit theologian named Luis de Molina. Molina had pioneered a theory of divine grace and human freedom known as Molinism.
The attack received popular support.
A French priest named Antoine Arnauld preserved the Jansenist writings at a monastery. He continued the attack on Jesuits, claiming Jesuits were in error because they had sin in their hearts.
The Jansenists advocated frequent examination of conscience and frequent confession. However, a bit of scrupulosity entered into the movement as well.
After Jansen died, the Vatican issued a Bull saying there were to be no more publications about grace. Twenty years later, five of Jansen’s publications were condemned. Later, they were re-condemned.
That said, the ideas of Jansenism continued to stay alive in the hearts and minds of Catholics. That put Catholic leaders in a quandary.
19th CENTURY PAPACY
MAJOR ERAS:
- Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Political Factors
- Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Religious Factors
- The Papacy of Pius VII: 1800-1823
- The papacy of Leo XII: 1823-1829
- The papacy of Pius VIII: 1829-1830
- The papacy of Gregory XVI: 1831-1846
- The papacy of Pius IX: 1846-1878
- The papacy of Leo XIII: 1878-1903
SEE ALSO: References, Church History
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