Council of Trent, The Reform Council Foreshadowing Vatican II

Today we will learn and reflect on the history and teachings of
the Council of Trent. Most history books paint the Council of
Trent as a reactionary council that sparked the counter-
reformation in Catholicism. While everyone agrees that Trent
was convened in response to the Protestant Reformation
where Martin Luther challenged many teachings of the Catholic
Church, modern scholarship paints Trent in a more positive
light as a reforming council in its own right, a council that was
the true foundation of the succeeding Vatican II Council many
centuries later. You could even say that Trent was spiritually
the true Vatican I Council!

You may ask, how will studying the history of the Council of Trent
improve my soul?
The Catholic teachings affirmed by the Council of Trent are quoted extensively in
the Catholic Catechism, which is itself a restatement of the decrees of Vatican II.
The decrees of Trent form the heart of the theology of the Vatican II Council.
IMHO, you cannot truly understand Catholicism and indeed, the Western
Tradition, unless you read St Augustine’s Confessions and John O’Malley’s recent
histories of Vatican II and of the Council Trent, which is our primary source for
this video and blog. These two histories stress the continuity between the
Councils of Trent and Vatican II.

We are planning future videos and blogs to ponder further
the interlocking doctrinal discussions on free will, original
sins, and justification.
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources used for this
video, O’Malley’s book and lectures on Trent, and why I
propose that pondering his books are so helpful in
understanding Catholicism and the Christian faith. Please, we
welcome interesting questions in the comments, sometimes
these will generate short videos of their own. Let us learn
and reflect together!

YouTube Video: Council of Trent, The Reform Council
Foreshadowing Vatican II
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To date, there have been 21 ecumenical councils. The first seven
ecumenical councils were sponsored by Emperor Constantine and later
emperors in or near Constantinople, these are recognized by both the
Catholic and Orthodox Churches today. The next fourteen Ecumenical
Councils were held in the West under the authority of the Pope and are
only recognized by the Catholic Church. The Council of Trent was the
19th Ecumenical Council.
All ecumenical councils prior to Vatican II only dealt with issues the
church was currently facing. The first seven ecumenical councils dealt
with cornerstone issues like the nature of the trinity, and how Jesus
could simultaneously be both fully human and fully divine.

1517: Luther and posting of the 95 Theses starts
the Protestant Reformation
1523: Discussions on Church Council
1545: Council of Trent, First active session
Reform: Bishops reside in their diocese, only one
bishopric
Doctrinal issues:
Old Testament canon, Latin vs. vernacular
Scriptures and traditions
Original sin, Justification by faith
There are Seven sacraments
Infant baptism is permissible
Confirmation is beneficial
LEADING UP TO COUNCIL OF TRENT, AND FIRST SESSION
Convoked by Pope Paul III

The Council of Trent was called in response to the challenges posed by Martin
Luther. Since Luther challenged the entire sacramental system of the Catholic
Church, plus challenges to Catholic doctrines including purgatory, original sin, and
justification, the decrees of the Council of Trent were more comprehensive than
any of the previous councils.
This is the timeline of events:
1517: Luther and his posting of the 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg
starts the Protestant Reformation. Luther was never conciliatory; he was always
brutally polemic. The printing press had just been invented, and many printers
distributed leaflets like this one that pictures the demons on the side of the Pope.

October 31, 1517: Luther posting the 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg

There were many like Erasmus who criticized the Catholic Church
without fear of condemnation, but from the start Martin Luther’s
criticisms tended to be brutally polemic:
73 Just as the Pope justly thunders against [disgraces and
excommunicates] those who by any means whatever contrive harm to
the sale of indulgences.
74 Much more does he intend to thunder against [disgrace and
excommunicate] those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive
harm to holy love and truth.
75 To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a
man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the Mother
of God is madness.
76 We say, on the contrary, that papal indulgences cannot remove the
very least of venial sins as far as guilt is concerned.
77 To say that even St. Peter if he were now Pope, could not grant
greater graces [mercies] is blasphemy against St. Peter and the Pope.
Excerpt from the 95 Theses

What possessed Luther to say something like this about the pope? Just try to
imagine what the response from the crowd would have been when this 75th
Thesis was read aloud in the taverns across Germany. Luther would later say stuff
like this all the time, he could go for pages and pages of brilliant theology, and
then stop and start calling the pope names like the whore of Babylon and worse.
1523: Discussions on Church Council, some failed attempts at meetings between
Protestant and Catholic leaders.
But it was not until 1545 that the Council of Trent was called by Pope Paul III.
Why the delay? By this time, the second generation of Protestant leaders were
coming on the scene, Calvinism was on the rise, and the Protestant doctrinal
positions had been set in concrete. Luther himself died in 1546, soon after the
Council convened.

Francisco Javier Amérigo y Aparici: Catalan: The Sack of Rome of 1527, painted 1887

Prior popes distrusted councils, the council of Basel had been a rogue council that
was disowned by nearly everyone, and the pope needed the support of the two
leading monarchs of Europe, King Francis of France and Charles V, the Hapsburg
monarch who was both King of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor, before calling
the Council. During the interim Charles V had gone to war against the
Schmalkaldic League of German Lutheran princes, and had also invaded Italy,
where his mercenary armies got out of control and sacked Rome in 1527, which
irritated the Pope Clement who was forced to flee for his life.
Before he was elected, Pope Paul III was the typical worldly cardinal that Luther
and the Protestants so loudly condemned, he enjoyed the perks of his office and
openly lived with his mistress who bore him several children. Dr Wikipedia tells
us that gossipers nicknamed him Cardinal Cunt. But as bishop of Parma he
underwent a religious conversion, put away his mistress, reformed his diocese,
and when elected pope he pushed for calling a reform church council.

History permits us to give the benefit of the doubt to both Emperor Charles V and
King Francis to argue that, like Pope Paul III, these two monarchs were also
genuinely concerned about reforming the church, although out of necessity
politics always played a part. Pope Paul III had to gain assent from the Catholic
monarchs of Europe before calling a council, there was no separation of church
and state in this era of history. Not only was the monarch the political head of the
churches in their realms, but the bishops and cardinals in their realm assisted the
monarchs in running the state.
1545: Council of Trent, First active session, Emperor Charles V insisted that the
council be held in German lands because he wanted to exert influence over the
council, but Pope Paul III wanted the council to be near Rome so he could exert
influence over the council. Although Trent was on the Italian side of the Alps, it
was German lands, so although it was only a small town at the time, it was the
ideal compromise location for the church council. None of these three leaders
would live to see the end of the Council of Trent.

This 1798 painting by Brugger shows the partnership between the Papacy and monarchs in calling the Council of Trent.

When travel was by horseback and the roads were bad, convening international
meetings could be challenging. For example, in American history the early
arrivals to the Constitutional Convention had to wait several months until enough
people arrived to form a quorum. Trent suffered the same problem; on the day
the Council was scheduled to start fewer than forty attendees had arrived.
When the delegates arrived, they discovered that not only had there not been
any preparation for the council, there was also no set agenda.
Trent was like Vatican II, many leading theologians attended, and not only did
they advise the bishops and cardinals, but they held classes on the theological
reform issues facing the council.

When calling the Council, Pope Paul III did emphasize that the council decrees
should not criticize and individual theologians, Luther included, but should only
criticize doctrine.
To modern ears, the formal decrees of Trent sound confrontational because they
are framed in the negative, ANATHEMAS were declared against anyone who
disagreed with church doctrine. This had been the case since the early Church
Councils at the time of Emperor Justinian, these confrontational anathemas were
issued by most church councils since that time. The biggest reform of Vatican II
was do adopt a pastoral approach and drop the confrontational anathemas,
seeking to learn from our separated Protestant brethren and also from the sister
Orthodox Churches.
So, the first item in the agenda was, THE AGENDA. The pope and his delegates
thought that DOCTRINE was the problem, that doctrine should come before
reform, while the monarchs thought that REFORMS should go before doctrine.
As a compromise, the delegates decided they would mix it up and take up a
doctrinal issue, then address a reform issue.

1517: Luther and posting of the 95 Theses starts
the Protestant Reformation
1523: Discussions on Church Council
1545: Council of Trent, First active session
Reform: Bishops reside in their diocese, only one
bishopric
Doctrinal issues:
Old Testament canon, Latin vs. vernacular
Scriptures and traditions
Original sin, Justification by faith
There are Seven sacraments
Infant baptism is permissible
Confirmation is beneficial
LEADING UP TO COUNCIL OF TRENT, AND FIRST SESSION
Trent Convoked by Pope Paul III

The pope was upset at this compromise, but his papal delegates who chaired the
Council were able to convince him this compromise was necessary. Though the
council delegates respected the authority of the pope, this helped set the tone of
the council, they were serious about the council, they did not see their role as
rubber-stamping papal decrees.
The most important reform item addressed was the question of whether the
Bishops should reside in their diocese, which would also mean they could only
hold one bishopric. This had always been the rule, but the problem was that
prior popes were quick to grant dispensations for the rule, and worse, the papacy
depended on fees charges charged for dispensations like this.
So the debate was: Should this be a matter of Divine Law? This meant that papal
dispensations were not possible. Decided not to go this far.
On DOCTRINAL ISSUES, the actual decisions of the Council of Trent were often not
as confrontational as the official decrees of the Council and the post-conciliar
Catholic interpretations and history of the Council would imply.

Although the early Church by consensus had set the canon of the New Testament,
there had never been a need to formally set the canon of the Old Testament.
The Church Fathers differed on what should be included in the Old Testament canon,
St Jerome, who had updated the Latin translation of Scriptures in the Vulgate,
preferred a narrow canon including only the Hebrew books of the Jewish canon.
St Augustine preferred the wider canon which included the deuterocanonical books
written in Greek, which are called the Apocrypha by Protestants.
Luther preferred to exclude the deuterocanonical books since several are
problematic according to his slogan, sola scriptura, or Scripture Alone: Tobit and
Judith are both clearly fictional and not historical, and Maccabees exhorts us to pray
for the dead, which Catholics claim as support for the doctrine of Purgatory, which
Luther rejected.
The delegates at Trent really did not want to decide between the positions of St
Jerome and St Augustine, so the official decree simply lists the books of the wider
canon, which meant that Trent adopted the position of St Augustine by default.

Canonical for the Catholic Church and the
Eastern Orthodox Church:
Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach,
1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom
Additions to Esther, Daniel, and Baruch:
Canonical only for Eastern Orthodox Church:
Prayer of Manasseh,
1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Psalm 151,
3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees as an appendix
Ethiopian Orthodox Church has additional
deuterocanonical books.
From Wikipedia: Deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books,
AKA Apocrypha

There was no debate at the Council that the Vulgate Latin translation was
problematic and needed updating to reflect current scholarship and
recently discovered ancient manuscripts. Likewise, the Trent delegates did
not intend to discourage vernacular translations of the Bible. The
delegates simply said that the Vulgate was an okay translation.
Likewise, the delegates at Trent did not spend a great deal of time
distinguishing between Scriptures and Tradition, and which comes first.
Any debate on this topic has to address the fact that the New Testament
canon was not set until the fifth century, and to keep this in perspective,
the Protestant Reformation itself was five centuries ago.

This is all the Trent decrees say about
“traditions” DSS 1501
“The council clearly perceives that this truth
and rule are contained in the written books and
unwritten traditions that have come down to
us, having been received by the apostles from
the mouth of Christ Himself or from the
apostles by the dictation of the Holy Spirit, and
have been transmitted, as it were, from hand to
hand.”
COUNCIL OF TRENT: SCRIPTURES AND TRADITIONS

Luther also challenged the Catholic doctrines on original sin and
justification by faith, which are also closely related to the question of
free will.
O’Malley in his book says that while Luther was the expert in slogans and
soundbites, the Catholic theologians were expert in scholarly
formulation of doctrines, and, indeed, pages and pages of the official
decrees of Trent deal with these issues.
To put it in a nutshell, the Catholic Church in the Council of Orange
rejected the radical Augustinian notion of total predestination, insisting
that though Christians need God’s grace to be justified by faith, there is
always a degree of free will, that we as individual Christians must
cooperate with the Holy Spirit to be justified by faith.

I discussed these issues in more detail in my blog, trying to summarize the
points made by O’Malley, but I am not entirely happy with it. In the future
I want to explore the debates between Luther and Erasmus on free will,
then explore Jaroslav Pelikan’s discussion of these issues in his history of
Christian doctrine, and other such histories, and then study the history
and theology behind these topics at Trent and Vatican II.
I want to read a discussion by Jaroslav Pelikan in his history of Christian
doctrine that I have seen repeated by several other theologians over the
years that argues that a mistranslation of a key verse in Romans may have
led to an incorrect understanding of original sin by St Augustine.

Jaroslav Pelikan’s explanation: “In the sin of Adam the
entire human race sinned. In Augustine’s Latin Bible
Romans 5:12 read, ‘Sin came into the world, and death
through sin, and so death spread to all men, through
one man, in whom all men sinned.’ Although this last
clause really meant, ‘because all men sinned,’ the
mistranslation ‘in whom all men sinned’ had led an
earlier Western theologians to conclude that ‘all have
sinned in Adam, for he himself was corrupted by sin, and
all whom Adam begot were born under sin.’ Quoting
these words, Augustine insisted that ‘all men are
understood to have sinned in that first man, because all
men were in him when he sinned.’ “
COUNCIL OF TRENT: ST AUGUSTINE AND ORIGINAL SIN

During this time Pope Paul III approved the formation of
the Jesuit Order by St Ignatius Loyola in 1540. Later the
Jesuits would be instrumental in implementing many of
the reforms of Trent, including the establishment of
schools, seminaries, and hospitals, and sending
missionaries across Europe and the globe. We have
another blog and will soon cut a video on the story of the
Jesuits, based also on a book and lectures by John
O’Malley.

.
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/history-of-the-jesuits/

The Council reaffirmed there were indeed seven sacraments, rather than the two
sacraments affirmed by Luther: Baptism and the Eucharist, or Lords’ Supper.
None of the ancient church fathers referred to a list of seven sacraments, Scripture
say we should strive for perfection, so if we could ask the ancient church fathers to
list the sacraments, they would likely respond that our entire lives should be
sacramental.
The list of seven sacraments were first listed in the medieval church, and this list was
adopted organically by the Orthodox Church with small changes.
The delegates in the first session rather quickly discussed baptism and confirmation,
and they confirmed that confirmation was beneficial. Because the more radical
Anabaptists were gaining members, the Council was eager to affirm that infant
baptism was proper.
Real progress was being made, and the delegates fully expected that all topics could
be covered without having to adjourn. But then, someone nearby fell ill, and the
doctors were concerned: PLAGUE, maybe typhus.

Council of Trent suspended: fear of PLAGUE.
They try to reconvene at Bologna, Charles V
refuses to send his delegates to an Italian
city, after two years of waiting the pope
releases the delegates.
POLITICS INTERFERES AGAIN:
Pope Paul III’s son was assassinated.
The pope and many historians suspect
Charles V was responsible.
Pope Paul III passes away, the next Pope
Julius III reconvenes the Council.
COUNCIL OF TRENT: FIRST SESSION TRIES TO RECONENE AT BOLOGNA, ITALY

1551: Council of Trent, Second session
Doctrine: Resume discussion on seven sacraments
Eucharist: Real Presence of Christ
Transubstantiation rather than consubstantiation
(minus Aristotle)
Adoration of Eucharist is reaffirmed
Sacraments of Penance and Last Rites are reaffirmed.
Luther considered naming penance as a sacrament.
POLITICS INTERFERES: Protestant armies in ongoing
war come close to Trent, so Council is adjourned.
COUNCIL OF TRENT: SECOND SESSION
Pope Julius III convokes council

After second session:
Politics heated back up, France declared war
against Charles V, France allied with the
Lutheran Protestants, Charles V lost the war,
had health problems, and abdicated, splitting
the Hapsburg domains in two, the pope died,
the next reactionary pope caused problems
then died, which means the Council of Trent
was suspended for a decade before it is
reconvened by Pope Pius IV.
Was not reconvened until 1561, a decade later.
COUNCIL OF TRENT: SUSPENDED: WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO RECONVENE?

When he abdicated, Charles V split his kingdoms up since they were too
large for one monarch to effectively govern. The next generation of
monarchs were Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand, King Phillip II of Spain,
and King Francis II of France. Since Francis was a child, power was
exercised by the Guise family, including Charles de Guise, who played an
important role in the third session of Trent.
Another important personality was the papal delegate, Cardinal Marone.
He would have probably been elected pope later had he not crossed
swords with the richest cardinal who was the grandson of Pope Paul III.
Although he was a reforming pope, he had a weak spot for his family,
and he granted dispensations so his grandson could accumulate multiple
wealthy bishoprics.

The first decision that had to be made by the delegates of the third
session was whether this would be a new council, or a continuation of
the Council of Trent, they decided this would be a continuation.
Protestants were invited to speak at the third session, and they spoke
during an informal session, but nothing come of this, these were now
second-generation Protestants, they were not going to compromise with
Rome. Not only did they not want to recognize the legitimacy of the
council, the pope was angry that they were allowed to speak at all.

Aka, Charles de Guise.
Guise uncles were
regent for:

1562: Council of Trent, Third session
Doctrine: Remaining sacraments
Marriage: No clandestine marriages
Valid marriages: vows in church before priest
Kidnapping not valid for courtship
Discussed clerical celibacy
Discussed Holy Orders
Reform: Bishops must tend to their flocks
Improve education for priests
Nuns: Cloistered
COUNCIL OF TRENT: THIRD SESSION
Pope Pius IV

Marriage: No clandestine marriages, Valid marriages: vows in church before priest
According to custom dating back to Greece and Rome, marriage was seen as a
sacrament between man and wife, and any ceremonies took place at the home,
although the priest may be asked to bless the home and later the couple.
This was a major problem in Europe, young couples would elope, and after the
pregnancy the guy would claim that no vows were offered.
The change made at Trent was that marriages were not valid unless vows were
exchanged before a priest in church, and this change was quietly adopted by the
Protestants as well.
One of the founding myths of Rome was where the Roman men kidnapped the
women of a nearby tribe so they could marry them, as you can see in this painting of
the Rape of the Sabine women, and the custom never entirely died out, and this
issue had already been condemned in several preceding ancient and medieval church
councils, but Trent repeated this condemnation, stating that kidnapping is not an
acceptable method of courtship.

Pietro da Cortona: Rape of the Sabine Women, founding myth of Ancient Rome, painted 1627-1629

www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com
1562: Council of Trent, Third session
Doctrine: Remaining sacraments
Marriage: No clandestine marriages
Valid marriages: vows in church before priest
Discussed clerical celibacy
Discussed Holy Orders
Reform: Bishops must tend to their flocks
Improve education for priests
Nuns: Cloistered
COUNCIL OF TRENT: THIRD SESSION
Pope Pius IV

The Lutherans permitted their priests to marry, and there is no biblical prohibition
against priests marrying, Peter and some of the apostles were married. There was
discussion of the issue of clerical celibacy was also discussed, but the delegates
preferred that the pope would address this issue.
The delegates discussed Holy Orders and confirmed that ordination is a sacrament.
Reform: Bishops must tend to their flocks, bishops must regularly visit the churches
and schools and hospitals in their diocese, and must regularly deliver homilies.
Prospective bishops must show that they can fulfill these duties.
Steps were taken to improve education for priests at the diocese level, initially
funding was an issue, but over the centuries education improved, assisted by the
efforts of the Jesuits.
The nuns were required to live a cloistered life, at the time several orders were not
cloistered. If you remember the history of St Francis, he had insisted that the Ladies
of Claire would be cloistered. The ancient and medieval worlds were dangerous
places for women.
They also discussed the rituals of the Mass.

Trent states this: “Since humanity cannot easily raise
itself up with the meditation of divine realities without
external aids, the Holy Mother Church has duly
established certain rites, such as reading some
portions of the Mass in a quieter tone and others in a
louder tone, and it has provided ceremonies such as
symbolic blessings, light, incense, vestments, and
many other rituals from apostolic order and tradition
by which the majesty of the great sacrifice is enhanced
and the minds of the faithful are roused by these
visible signs of religious devotion to contemplation of
the high mysteries hidden in the Mass.”
COUNCIL OF TRENT

November 1562: Council of Trent, Third session
The delegates thought they had a few weeks to
wrap up the council, but then they heard that
Pope Pius IV on his deathbed, and they did not
want another long interruption of the Council, so
these decrees drawn up in a few days with little or
no discussion:
Purgatory, Indulgences, Fasting,
Missal and breviary
Also, the issue of the Index of forbidden books was
referred back to the Pope
Pope Pius IV died on December 9, 1565
COUNCIL OF TRENT: THIRD SESSION, FINAL DAYS
Pope Pius IV

John O’Malley makes a strong argument that Trent is a forward-looking reforming
council, and in his history of the Vatican II he will also strongly argue that the decrees
of Vatican II largely adopted the theological decrees of Trent.
Why does the Council of Trent have the reputation of a backward-looking
reactionary council?
There was a polemic war being wages between the Catholics and Protestants. The
new Pope Pius V closed the archives of the Trent Council debates so Protestants
wouldn’t cherry pick them to attack the heritage of the council. He formed a
reactionary Congregation of Council to interpret the decrees of Trent and did not
allow anyone else to write histories of the Council of Trent. This very conservative
implementation included insisting on the use of the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Latin
Mass, and tried to prevent laymen from reading the Bible on their own.
The laity was denied the cup during the administration of the Eucharist.
Catholics and Lutherans were very concerned about establishing their separate
identities, each claiming to be the true church.

The new Pope Pius V closed the archives of the
Trent Council debates so polemic Protestants
could not attack the heritage of the council.
Only the reactionary Congregation of Council
could comment on Council of Trent
Very conservative implementation
Latin Vulgate Bible, Latin Mass
Laymen could not read Bible on their own
Trent Catechism
St Charles Borromeo: Nephew of Pope Pius IV,
model bishop of Milan, was an authority on the
implementation of the Council of Trent.
COUNCIL OF TRENT: IMPLEMENTATION
Pope Pius V implements Trent

On the positive side, the Trent Catechism using roughly the same format as the
Lutheran Large Catechism, and also the recently issued Catholic Catechism.
We previously mentioned the role of the Jesuits in improving education.
St Charles Borromeo: Nephew of Pope Pius IV, model bishop of Milan, was an
authority on the implementation of the Council of Trent.
These reforms led a spiritual revival in the Catholic Church.
HISTORY OF THE HISTORY OF TRENT
The papal archives covering the Council of Trent were finally opened to serious
scholars in 1880, and it took nearly a hundred years for a German publishing house
to publish the archives of the Council. From 1951 – 1975 a German scholar, Herbert
Jedine, published a four-volume history of the history of the council, only two
volumes have been translated into English. These were the primary source for John
O’Malley’s history of Trent, and any history with a copyright date before the 1980’s
are not accurate because they did not consult the history of Herbert Jedine.

SOURCES: Father John O’Malley’s histories read like novels, they are fun
reading and make you feel like you are there. They are also balanced
historical accounts both of the history and the personalities that make up
the history, covering both their strengths and weaknesses. What brings
this account to life is O’Malley’s description of the politics of the various
sessions, and the give and take of the many debates and controversies
addressed in the various sessions which spanned several generations.
In addition to the book he also has a series of lectures from the Catholic
Learn25 website. The lectures use the book as a source. IMHO you would
benefit most from both reading the book and listening to the lectures. His
books are primary sources for understanding the history of both Trent and
Vatican II. How can you understand Catholicism if you do not been
exposed to the histories of Trent and Vatican II?

We invested in in the English edition of Denzinger, which includes all
important church documents in both English and their original languages,
including the published decrees of Trent and Vatican II. These can all be
accessed on the Vatican website.
Pelikan’s History of Christian Doctrine also covers Trent and the years
leading up to Trent.

From website: After Luther, Calvin, and Henry VIII, Trent is one of
the most frequently invoked names regarding the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth century.
Now, the celebrated author of Trent: What Happened at the Council
(2012) helps you set the record straight. Georgetown’s Fr. John
O’Malley, S.J., explains the ripple effect of decisions directed toward
members of the Catholic Church but felt throughout Europe.
A colorful and tumultuous affair, the Council of Trent was dogged by
war and conflict from beginning to end. The leading political figures
of the day were deeply involved, as were the five popes who
reigned during the council’s 18 fateful years. Lurching from one
crisis to the next, they all had something at stake in the council.
The story of the Council of Trent continues long after its
implementation. Historians have dubbed the 400 years following
the council the “Tridentine Era.” Discover how vital the legacy of
Trent is to your understanding of the Church today.
https://www.learn25.com/product/the-council-of-trent-answering-the-reformation-and-reforming-the-church/

PLEASE click on the links in the description for our blog on the Council
of Trent.
And on the links for our YouTube videos on stoic philosophy and other
interesting videos that will broaden your knowledge and improve
your soul.

Council of Trent, The Reform Council Foreshadowing Vatican II

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