Who is council of trent

The bishops were called to Rome , where they were to prepare decrees for disciplinary reforms. This closed the first period of the council.

On 10 Nov. He at once began negotiations with the emperor to reopen the council. On 14 Nov. The cardinal legate reached Trent on 29 April, , where, besides the bishop of the city, fourteen bishops from the countries ruled by the emperor were in attendance; several bishops came from Rome , where they had been staying, and on 1 May, , the eleventh session was held.

In this the resumption of the council was decreed , and 1 September was appointed as the date of the next session. The Sacrament of the Eucharist and drafts of further disciplinary decrees were discussed in the congregations of the theologians and also in several general congregations.

Among the theologians were Lainez and Salmeron , who had been sent by the pope , and Johannes Arza, who represented the emperor. The King of France , however, was unwilling to allow any French bishop to go to the council. In the twelfth session 1 Sept. This was due to the expectation of the arrival of other German bishops , besides the Archbishops of Mainz and Trier who were already in attendance.

The thirteenth session was held on 11 Oct. Another decree deferred until the next session the discussion of four articles concerning the Eucharist, namely, Communion under the two species of bread and wine and the Communion of children ; a safe-conduct was also issued for Protestants who desired to come to the council.

The presidents laid before the general congregation of 15 October drafts of definitions of the Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction for discussion.

These subjects occupied the congregations of theologians, among whom Gropper , Nausea , Tapper, and Hessels were especially prominent, and also the general congregations during the months of October and November. At the fourteenth session, held on 25 November, the dogmatic decree promulgated contained nine chapters on the dogma of the Church respecting the Sacrament of Penance and three chapters on extreme unction.

To the chapters on penance were added fifteen canons condemning heretical teachings on this point, and four canons condemning heresies to the chapters on unction. The decree on reform treated the discipline of the clergy and various matters respecting ecclesiastical benefices. In the meantime, ambassadors from several Protestant princes and cities reached Trent. They made various demands, as: that the earlier decisions which were contrary to the Augsburg Confession should be recalled; that debates on questions in dispute between Catholics and Protestants should be deferred; that the subordination of the pope to an ecumenical council should be defined ; and other propositions which the council could not accept.

Since the close of the last session both the theologians and the general congregations had been occupied in numerous assemblies with the dogma of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and of the ordination of priests , as well as with plans for new reformatory decrees. At the fifteenth session 25 January, , in order to make some advances to the ambassadors of the Protestants , the decisions in regard to the subjects under consideration were postponed and a new safe-conduct, such as they had desired, was drawn up for them.

Besides the three papal legates and Cardinal Madruzzo, there were present at Trent ten archbishops and fifty-four bishops , most of them from the countries ruled by the emperor. On account of the treacherous attack made by Maurice of Saxony on Charles V , the city of Trent and the members of the council were placed in danger; consequently, at the sixteenth session 23 April, a decree suspending the council for two years was promulgated. However, a considerably longer period of time elapsed before it could resume its sessions.

He was followed by Marcellus II , a former cardinal legate at Trent , Marcello Cervino; Marcellus died twenty-two days after his election. His successor, the austere Paul IV , energetically carried out internal reforms both in Rome and in the other parts of the Church ; but he did not seriously consider reconvening the council. Pius IV announced to the cardinals shortly after his election his intention of reopening the council. Indeed, he had found the right man, his nephew, the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan , Charles Borromeo , to complete the important work and to bring its decisions into customary usage in the Church.

Great difficulties were raised once more on various sides. The Emperor Ferdinand desired the council, but wished it to be held in some German city, and not at Trent ; moreover he desired it to meet not as a continuation of the earlier assembly but as a new council.

The King of France also desired the assembling of a new council, but he did not wish it at Trent. The Protestants of Germany worked in every way against the assembling of the Council.

On 29 Nov. Notwithstanding all the efforts of the papal nuncios , Delfino and Commendone , the German Protestants persisted in their opposition. As the bishops made their appearance very slowly, the opening of the council was delayed. Finally on 18 Jan.

There were present, besides the four cardinal legates , one cardinal , three patriarchs , eleven archbishops , forty bishops , four abbots , and four generals of orders; in addition thirty-four theologians were in attendance. The ambassadors of the princes were a source of much trouble to the presidents of the council and made demands which were in part impossible.

The Protestants continued to calumniate the assembly. Emperor Ferdinand wished to have the discussion of dogmatic questions deferred. At the eighteenth session 25 Feb. At the next two sessions, the nineteenth on 14 May, and the twentieth on 4 June, , only decrees proroguing the council were issued. The number of members had, it is true , increased, and various ambassadors of Catholic rulers had arrived at Trent , but some princes continued to raise obstacles both as to the character of the council and the place of meeting.

Emperor Ferdinand sent an exhaustive plan of church reform which contained many articles impossible to accept. The legates , however, continued the work of the assembly, and presented the draft of the decree on Holy Communion , which treated especially the question of Communion under both species, as well as drafts of several disciplinary decrees.

These questions were subjected to the usual discussions. At the twenty-first session 16 July, the decree on Communion under both species and on the Communion of children was promulgated in four chapters and four canons. A decree upon reformation in nine chapters was also promulgated ; it treated ordination to the priesthood , the revenues of canons, the founding of new parishes , and the collectors of alms.

Articles on the Sacrifice of the Mass were now laid before the congregations for discussion; in the following months there were long and animated debates over the dogma. At the twenty-second session, which was not held until 17 Sept. The council had hardly ever been in as difficult a position as that in which it now found itself.

The secular rulers made contradictory and, in part, impossible demands. At the same time warm debates were held by the fathers on the questions of the duty of residence and the relations of the bishops to the pope. The French bishops who arrived on 13 November made several dubious propositions. Cardinals Gonzaga and Seripando , who were of the number of cardinal legates , died. The two new legates and presidents, Morone and Navagero, gradually mastered the difficulties.

The various points of the dogma concerning the ordination of priests were discussed both in the congregations of the eighty-four theologians , among whom Salmeron , Soto , and Lainez were the most prominent, and in the general congregations. Finally, on 15 July, , the twenty-third session was held. It promulgated the decree on the Sacrament of Orders and on the ecclesiastical hierarchy in four chapters and eight canons , and a decree on reform in eighteen chapters.

This disciplinary decree treated the obligation of residence, the conferring of the different grades of ordination , and the education of young clerics seminarists.

The decrees which were proclaimed to the Church at this session were the result of long and arduous debates, in which members entitled to a vote took part. Disputes now arose once more as to whether the council should be speedily terminated or should be carried on longer. In the meantime the congregations debated the draft of the decree on the Sacrament of Matrimony , and at the twenty-fourth session 11 Nov.

A general decree on reform in twenty-one chapters was also published which treated the various questions connected with the administration of ecclesiastical offices.

The desire for the closing of the council grew stronger among all connected with it, and it was decided to close it as speedily as possible. A number of questions had been discussed preliminarily and were now ready for final definition. Consequently in the twenty-fifth and final session, which occupied two days December, , the following decrees were approved and promulgated : on 3 December a dogmatic decree on the veneration and invocation of the saints , and on the relics and images of the same; a decree on reform in twenty-two chapters concerning monks and nuns ; a decree on reform, treating of the mode of life of cardinals and bishops , certificates of fitness for ecclesiastics , legacies for Masses, the administration of ecclesiastical benefices , the suppression of concubinage among the clergy , and the life of the clergy in general.

On 4 December the following were promulgated : a dogmatic decree on indulgences ; a decree on fasts and feast days ; a further decree on the preparation by the pope of editions of the Missal , the Breviary , and a catechism , and of a list of forbidden books.

It was also declared that no secular power had been placed at a disadvantage by the rank accorded to its ambassadors, and the secular rulers were called upon to accept the decisions of the council and to execute them. After the fathers had agreed to lay the decisions before the pope for confirmation, the president, Cardinal Morone, declared the council to be closed.

The decrees were subscribed by two hundred and fifteen fathers of the council, consisting of four cardinal legates , two cardinals , three patriarchs , twenty-five archbishops , one hundred and sixty-seven bishops , seven abbots , seven generals of orders, and also by nineteen proxies for thirty-three absent prelates.

The decrees were confirmed on 26 Jan. The Ecumenical Council of Trent has proved to be of the greatest importance for the development of the inner life of the Church. No council has ever had to accomplish its task under more serious difficulties, none has had so many questions of the greatest importance to decide. The assembly proved to the world that notwithstanding repeated apostasy in church life there still existed in it an abundance of religious force and of loyal championship of the unchanging principles of Christianity.

Although unfortunately the council, through no fault of the fathers assembled, was not able to heal the religious differences of western Europe , yet the infallible Divine truth was clearly proclaimed in opposition to the false doctrines of the day, and in this way a firm foundation was laid for the overthrow of heresy and the carrying out of genuine internal reform in the Church. About this page APA citation. Kirsch, J. Council of Trent.

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In response to the Protestant Reformation, key statements and clarifications regarding church doctrine, teaching, and practice were prepared. These included pronouncements on the Biblical canon, original sin, justification, sacraments, baptism, the Eucharist, penance, the veneration of saints, and indulgences. The official decrees of the Council of Trent, first collected and printed in Rome in , were republished in more than editions before in Italy, Spain, the Low Countries, France, and Portugal.

Advancing the declarations and resolutions of the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church initiated a publication program throughout Europe in direct response to Martin Luther and his successors.

This dissemination of approved doctrine included Catholic catechisms and a new version of the Latin Vulgate Bible as well as extensive lists of prohibited authors and works.