EARLY MODERN CATHOLICISM: 1500-1800(PART 2) | KAIROS GLOBAL | FEBRUARY 2024

Author: Rodney Pereira

Intro: In the first part of this article (previous issue), we read about the Protestant Revolt and the Counter Reformation. In this issue, Rodney Pereira continues with the story of the Church during 1500-1800 and talks about learnings from this period.

Missions

Missions flourished in this period, especially on the continents of Africa, America, and Asia, though they were slow in Europe. The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico was a major event and resulted in perhaps the biggest conversion in the history of the Church. Within a decade, between 8 million and 10 million natives were converted to the Catholic faith (almost double the number lost to Protestantism). The Jesuits were the pioneer missionaries. The efforts of St Francis Xavier and Robert de Nobili in India, Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall in China, and St Isaac Jogues and the North American Martyrs in the New World were groundbreaking. The Jesuits fought the Protestant challenge. They founded numerous schools, colleges, and universities in Europe and beyond. In his book Called to be Holy, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan comments about a famous portrait of the seminarians in the sixteenth century in the chapel of the Venerable English College in Rome. They were ‘sent to England as priests for what was almost certain martyrdom. Hundreds went from Rome back to England, where the Church was persecuted. Many were arrested on the dock disembarking the ship. They were warned, threatened, sent back to Europe … only to catch the next ship over. Dozens — hundreds — were harassed, imprisoned, tortured, brutally martyred … and the stories only encouraged their brothers preparing for the same fate. They kept going over.’ The Capuchins (a branch of the Franciscans) also had great missionary success during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During this ‘Age of Discovery’, religious orders like Franciscans, Augustinians, and Dominicans sent missionaries to Asia and the Far East. The new religious orders, like the Theatines and Ursuline Sisters, emerged. The great saints like St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, St Francis de Sales, St Jeanne de Chantal, St Vincent de Paul, St Charles Borromeo, and St Robert Bellarmine belonged to this age. Even though it was a period of great turmoil, holiness flourished in the seventeenth century and is often called ‘the age of saints'. In January 1622, the Sacred Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (Congregation for Propagation of the Faith) was founded to promote the reunification of Christians and the mission among non-Christians. 

The French Revolution

The French Revolution of 1789 brought a major change in the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church. The Enlightenment ideas spurred the revolutionaries, who now saw the Church as an enemy. They imposed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, nationalised the property of the Church, and demanded that the clergy take an oath of loyalty to the state. Soon, churches were closed, religious symbols were removed, the clergy was persecuted, and attempts for dechristianisation began. This continued until the Concordat of 1801, which brought about a reconciliation between the government and the Church.

Other developments

This was also a period of immense contributions to the fields of visual arts and music. The terms characterising the contributions of this period include Baroque and Rococo (Late Baroque). The so-called Big Three artists of the time were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Religious art and music flourished. The most famous Catholic musician of the period was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Political upheavals, religious wars, advances of the Muslim forces, crusades, and inquisitions are all in the story during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, almost half the countries of the West were predominantly Protestant. Nationalist movements like Gallicanism in France and Febronianism in Germany threatened the Church. In the eighteenth century, many rulers across Europe started becoming hostile to the Church and papal authority. Threats of other kinds also emerged. The intellectual and philosophical growth that occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily in the West, is often called the Age of Enlightenment (or the Age of Reason). Some of the fruits of the Enlightenment were the emphasis on scientific principles, rationalism, and humanism, which laid the foundation for the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries and the secularism of the 20th century. The Church would soon find itself facing a fast-changing era.

Some lessons from the story of the Church during this period:

1. My holiness and unholiness affect the Church. Much of the problem of the period began with the moral laxity of the clergy and laity. Similarly, my daily holiness and unholiness affects my family, the Church, and the world in ways I may not realise. At Fatima, Mother Mary reminded us that war is a punishment for sin. St Paul exhorts us, Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15–16).

   
   

2. I need to pray for the Church with commitment. Praying for the Church is not optional. My prayers, sacrifices, and cooperation are essential for the Church. It's my duty. St Catherine of Siena gave us a great example through her unwavering commitment to praying for the Church. She once lamented for not having prayed enough: ‘Merciful Father, you have always urged me to struggle with you for the salvation of the world and the reform of the Holy Church, with my sweet, loving, grieving desires, with my tears and humble, continual, and faithful prayer— but I have slept in the bed of negligence. This is why so many evils and ruins have befallen your Church.’

   
   

3. Suffering and adversity can aid us in growing in holiness. ‘The Age of Saints’ reminds us that holiness is always abundant in the Church during times of great adversity. We realise that holiness in our times is also not easy. When we look around, we are reminded of Jesus’ words: And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). An abundance of opportunities for both evil and holiness exists like never before.

   
   

4. Rediscovering the inner life is the key to renewal. It is not through an abundance of action that the Church is renewed and invigorated. The Church’s growth and mission are not just a matter of projects and strategies. Real growth and renewal always come from a deep spiritual life.

An agricultural officer in the Kerala Government Department of Agriculture, Rodney Pereira lives in Trivandrum, India with his wife Leema Pereira and their son Joshua.