When the period of Enlightenment began in the eighteenth century and was followed by the French Revolution, the Roman Catholic Church in various European countries came under considerable pressure. Only after the fall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) at the beginning of the nineteenth century did the Church regain some breathing space and various Catholics made attempts to bring the Church back into the spotlight. The nineteenth century was also the century of Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius The Roman Catholic Church also had to deal, just as in the eighteenth century, with a number of movements that deviated from Roman Catholic dogmatics.
Contents
- The Oxford Movement
- The First Vatican Council
- Ultramontanism
- Restoration of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands
- The Modern Pope; Leo XIII
- Pope Pius
The Oxford Movement
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Catholic movement the ‘Oxford Movement’ was founded by some Anglican clergy. The Anglican clergy did not agree with the many Calvinist and rationalist changes that were taking place within the Church of England and their aim was to emphasize the Catholic side of the Anglican Church more strongly.
John Henry Newman
One man who quickly became important to the Oxford Movement was the priest of Oxford University Church, John Henry Newman (1801-1883). Newman was originally an Anglican priest who had converted to Catholicism, a choice he defended in his famous apology ‘Apologia pro Vita sua’. Both before and after his conversion, Newman wrote several books that became extremely popular and when he died at the age of 89, an estimated 15,000 people attended his funeral. John Henry Newman received his due honor in 1879 when then Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) decided to appoint Newman as an honorary cardinal. A striking appointment because Newman did not hold a higher, ecclesiastical position.
Henry Edward Manning
In addition to Newman, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning (1808-1892) was also a prominent member of the Oxford Movement. Like Newman, Manning also converted to Catholicism and began his studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastic Academy. In 1865 Manning was appointed Archbishop of Westminster and in that capacity he committed himself to Catholic education. Manning maintained very good contacts with Rome and was therefore of great influence in setting the direction of the Catholic Church. Other important supporters of the Oxford Movement were writer Thomas William Allies (1813-1903), church lawyer Edward Badeley (1803 or 1804-1868) and priest Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914).
The First Vatican Council
The First Vatican Council was organized in Rome from December 8, 1869 to September 20, 1870. A special council because it was the first meeting since the Council of Trent, more than 300 years earlier, and because it was broken up when the troops of the king of Sardinia took Rome.
New dogma
The council’s first task was to put an end to the debate about the infallibility of the pope, which had been going on for some time among Catholics. The council decided to declare the infallibility of the Pope as dogma and recorded its decision in the constitution ‘Pastor aeternus’. In concrete terms, this meant that the Pope could make an infallible ruling on matters of faith or morals on the basis of his own authority, i.e. without the consent of the Church. The dogma therefore did not mean that the pope as a person was infallible. Since the Pope was assisted by the Holy Spirit in making such an infallible statement, every believer had to accept this statement.
Errors
The infallibility of the Pope was not the only topic on the council’s agenda. The council also had to express the Church’s attitude towards rationalism; a philosophical movement that assumed that reason was the only and main source of knowledge. The council recorded its views in the constitution ‘Dei Filius’, which not only showed that the Church rejected rationalism, but also that it saw pantheism 1 and materialism 2 as error. Other points that were discussed in ‘Dei Filius’ were the formulation of Catholic doctrine and the way in which the Church wanted to protect Christian marriage and Christian education.
Explanation:
1 Pantheism: a philosophy of life that assumes that everything and everyone is divine
2 Materialism: a belief that assumes that only physical things actually exist
The fall of Rome
In September 1870, the soldiers of the Sardinian king, Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878), arrived at the gates of Rome while the council was still in progress. Despite the fact that the Papal Zouaves (the ecclesiastical infantry) fiercely resisted the king’s troops, King Victor Emmanuel managed to realize his dream of reuniting Italy. Under pressure from the conquerors, the council was aborted and, to the great disappointment of the then pope, was not continued at a later date.
Ultramontanism
In the nineteenth century, several European Catholics fell under the spell of ultramontanism; a movement whose followers were very papist and emphasized his authority in the field of faith and discipline. Not every Catholic was equally enthusiastic about the plan to give the Pope even more power and in France a counter-current emerged called Gallicanism.
Quanta Cura
Ultramontanism emerged in the nineteenth century as a reaction to the Enlightenment. A movement that became very popular when the then Pope, Pius IX (1792-1878), published his anti-modernist encyclical ‘Quanta Cura’. In his encyclical, the Pope took issue with the state and rejected the claim that the state had the sole right to raise and educate children. He even called on Catholics to stop sending their children to state schools. In Germany, organizing Catholic Days was the reaction of the ultramontanes to the anti-Catholic attitude of the government.
Kulturkampf (1872-1879)
The fear of ultramontanism led to the Kulturkampf in Germany; a struggle between the German Empire, led by Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), and the Catholic Church. Von Bismarck was afraid that the Catholic ‘Zentrumspartei’ would rebel against the formation of the new German Empire by working together with the Catholics in France and Austria. To prevent this, Von Bismarck introduced various anti-clerical measures aimed at limiting the power of the Catholic Church. For example, the Catholic worship service was abolished in 1871 and in 1872 the Jesuits were expelled from Prussia. Some time later, the other monastic orders and their followers were also banished and from 1873 only civil marriage was seen as legal. When Bismarck restricted press freedom in 1878, he antagonized German Protestants and liberals and in order to survive he had to collaborate with the Catholic Zentrumspartei. From that moment on, the end of the Kulturkampf was in sight.
Ultram ontanism in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, ultramontanism found an important advocate in the person of Joachim le Sage ten Broeck. Le Sage ten Broeck was the son of a Protestant minister, but converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1806. He defended his choice for conversion in his well-known apology ‘On the excellence of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church’ and he also founded the magazine ‘De Ultramontaan; Magazine for Downers and Ignorantines’ op. Supported by Le Sage ten Broeck, the Dutch episcopate decided to support Pope Pius IX in his school struggle and also called on Dutch Catholics to no longer send their children to state schools. The Protestants had nothing good to say about the Catholic ultramontanes and therefore accused them of a lack of patriotism, as they only followed the decisions taken in Rome.
Restoration of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands
Encouraged by ultramontanism in the surrounding countries, Catholics in the Netherlands also made various attempts to demand more rights, but unfortunately in vain. It was only when the Kingdom of the Netherlands decided to revise its constitution in 1848 that Dutch Catholics were able to close the doors of their secret churches.
The Constitution of 1848
Although Calvinism was never officially declared the state religion, the religion enjoyed enormous privileges in the Netherlands. Catholics were tolerated at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but only if they did not make their faith public. During the constitutional revision of 1848, the right to freedom of religion was added to the constitution and the separation between church and state was also realized. For the Catholics, this meant that they could finally demonstrate their faith openly again and soon there were calls for the restoration of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands. Both the Bishop of Liège, Cornelis van Bommel (1790-1852), and the suffragan bishop of the Dutch Mission, Cornelis van Wijckerslooth (1786-1851), decided to commit themselves to realizing this goal.
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
In December 1852, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Congregatio pro Gentium Evangelizatione) decided to agree to the Dutch clergy’s request and on March 6, 1853 the papal bull ‘Ex Qua Die’ (from that day on) was issued. In this bull, the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands was officially restored, but this led to a revolt among Protestants in the Netherlands. Pastor Bernard ter Haar (1806-1880) offered 50,000 signatures to King Willem II (1792-1849) on behalf of the Protestant ‘April Movement’ from people who were against the restoration of the dioceses. King William II was unfortunately unable to meet the wishes of the Protestants and this led to the fall of the then cabinet of Thorbecke I. Despite the resistance, the dioceses of Utrecht, Haarlem, ‘s Hertogenbosch, Breda and Roermond were still restored years ago. The recognition of the dioceses of Rotterdam and Groningen followed in 1956.
The Modern Pope; Leo XIII
After the death of Pope Pius After taking office, Pope Leo XIII appeared to be a lot less dismissive of modernism. And during his pontificate he made various attempts to bring the Church back into contact with the modernized, nineteenth-century society.
Encyclicals
Pope Leo formulate such as; the right to a fair wage and the right to property. In order to realize the principles, Pope Leo In his encyclicals ‘Diuturnum illud’ (1881) and ‘Immortale Dei’ (1886), the Pope declared that a democratic form of government was not contrary to Catholic teaching and he underlined the importance of Bible study in his encyclical ‘Providentissimus Deus’. Because Pope Leo XIII also had a positive attitude towards science, even natural science, he was distrusted by the ultramontanes.
Measures
Although not everyone agreed with Pope Leo XIII’s modern ideas, he was widely respected for his diplomatic gifts. In this way, he put an end to the tense relationship between the Church and the German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), and was the first pope to support the French Republic. He stood up for the slaves by sending an encyclical to the bishops of Brazil and fought for an improvement in the position of Catholics in Russia. Pope Leo That the Pope was passionate about science became clear in 1883 when he opened the Vatican Archives to all scientists, including non-Catholics and pagans.
Pope Pius
The modernist Pope Leo XIII was succeeded by the anti-modernist Pope Pius Partly due to his anti-modernist attitude and his open personality, Pope Pius
Ius exclusivae
Immediately after his appointment, Pope Pius By means of the ius exclusivae, the monarch could exclude a candidate during the conclave and thus deprive him of a chance at the papacy. The reason that Pope Pius 1913), had been sidelined. Only because Rampolla del Tindaro was too ‘French-minded’ in the eyes of Emperor Franz Joseph. Cardinals who would in the future use a lay veto during the conclave would be unceremoniously excommunicated.
Modernism
Pope Pius a movement that wanted to reconcile the church message with current developments in science, philosophy and society. The modernists could count on the support of many church figures and influential seminary professors, but the Pope was not deterred by this. In 1907 he published his encyclical ‘Pascendi Dominici Gregis’ in which he ordered the purification of the Roman Catholic Church from modernism and many modernists were removed from their ecclesiastical positions. In this way, Pope Pius
Children’s communion
Finally, Pope Pius Since he wanted to promote frequent communion, he decided to lower the age at which children made their First Holy Communion from twelve to seven years. The Pope believed that children had reached ‘the years of reason’ when they were seven or eight years old. According to Pope Pius In addition to all the aforementioned changes, Pope Pius