Council of Trent

The Council of Trent (Italian: Trento) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church held in discontinuous sessions between 1545 and 1563 in response to the Protestant Reformation. The Council should have been held in Vicenza (20 miles west of Venice), but the aristocratic family that promoted the event was considered to be too fond of the Emperor, so the council was moved to Trent.

The canons and decrees

The doctrinal acts are as follows: after reaffirming the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (third session), the decree was passed (fourth session) confirming that the deuterocanonical books were on a par with the other books of the canon (against Luther's omission of these books in his translation) and coordinating church tradition with the Scriptures as a rule of faith. The Vulgate translation was affirmed to be authoritative for the

Related Topics:
Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed - Deuterocanonical books - Canon - Vulgate

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text of Scripture.

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Justification (sixth session) was declared to be offered upon the basis of faith and good works as opposed to the Protestant doctrine of faith alone, and faith was treated as a progressive work. The idea of man being utterly passive, like a stone, under the influence of grace was also rejected.

Related Topics:
Justification - Grace

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The greatest weight in the Council's decrees is given to the sacraments. The sacramental nature of the seven sacraments was affirmed and the Eucharist pronounced to be a true propitiatory sacrifice as well as a sacrament, in which the bread and wine were converted into the body and blood of Christ (thirteenth and twenty-second sessions). The term transubstantiation was used by the Council, but the specific Aristotelian explanation given by Scholasticism was not cited as dogmatic. Instead, the decree states that Christ is "really, truly, substantially present" in the consecrated forms. The sacrifice of the Mass was to be offered for dead and living alike and in giving to the apostles the command "do this in remembrance of me," Christ conferred upon them a sacerdotal power. The practice of withholding the cup from the laity was confirmed (twenty-first session) as one which the Church had commanded from of old for good and sufficient reasons; yet in certain cases the pope was made the supreme arbiter as to whether the rule should be strictly maintained.

Related Topics:
Sacrament - Eucharist - Transubstantiation - Aristotelian - Scholasticism - Christ - Mass

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Ordination (twenty-third session) was defined to imprint a indelible character on the soul. The priesthood of the New Testament takes the place of the Levitical priesthood. To the performance of its functions, the consent of the people is not necessary.

Related Topics:
Ordination - Indelible character

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In the decrees on marriage (twenty-fourth session) the excellence of the celibate state was reaffirmed (see also clerical celibacy), concubinage condemned, and the validity of marriage made dependent upon its being performed before a priest and two witnesses. In the case of a divorce the right of the innocent party to marry again was denied so long as the other party is alive, even if the other may have committed adultery.

Related Topics:
Celibate - Clerical celibacy - Divorce

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In the twenty-fifth and last session, the doctrines of purgatory, the invocation of saints, and the veneration of relics were reaffirmed, as also the efficacy of indulgences as dispensed by the Church according to the power given her, but with some cautionary recommendations.

Related Topics:
Purgatory - Saint - Relic

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The council appointed, in 1562 (eighteenth session), a commission to prepare a list of forbidden books (Index librorum prohibitorum), but it later left the matter to the action of the pope. The preparation of a catechism and revised editions of the Breviary and Missal were also left to the pope.

Related Topics:
1562 - Index librorum prohibitorum - Catechism - Breviary - Missal

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On adjourning, the Council begged the supreme pontiff to ratify all its decrees and definitions. This petition was complied with by Pope Pius IV, January 26, 1564, in a bull which enjoins strict obedience upon all Roman Catholics, and forbids, under pain of excommunication, all unauthorized interpretation, reserving this to the pope alone, and threatening the disobedient with "the indignation of Almighty God and of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul." Pope Pius appointed a commission of cardinals to assist him in interpreting and enforcing the decrees.

Related Topics:
Pope Pius IV - January 26 - 1564 - Excommunication

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The Index librorum prohibitorum was announced 1564, and the following books were issued with the papal imprimatur: the Profession of the Tridentine Faith and the Tridentine Catechism (1566), the Breviary (1568), the Missal (1570), and the Vulgate (1590, and then 1592).

Related Topics:
Imprimatur - Tridentine Catechism - Vulgate

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The decrees of the council were acknowledged in Italy, Portugal, Poland, and by the Roman Catholic princes of Germany at the diet of 1566. Philip II of Spain accepted them for Spain, the Netherlands, and Sicily in so far as they did not infringe on the royal prerogative. In France they were officially recognized by the king only in their doctrinal parts. The disciplinary sections received official recognition at provincial synods and were enforced by the bishops. No attempt was made to introduce it into England. Pius IV sent the decrees to Mary, Queen of Scots, with a letter dated June 13, 1564, requesting her to publish them in Scotland, but she dared not do it in the face of John Knox and the Reformation.

Related Topics:
1566 - Philip II of Spain - Mary, Queen of Scots - June 13 - 1564 - John Knox

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