April 30 – Resisting Change
While the world was changing like crazy, there was one small portion of it that did not want to see any type of change at all. It may be hard to imagine, but until the mid 1800s, individual nations were not a strong force in the world. However, at this point, people began to assert their rights to have their own countries. France, Italy and others threw off outside rule and set forth their nations based on language and geography.
Pope Pius IX tried to create an Italian-speaking state, giving the Papal States a constitution. Assassinations sent him scurrying away from Rome until the French military helped him return. Italy wanted the Vatican to become financially reliant on the country and he refused. At this point, he set up treaties with many other countries – establishing the Vatican as the main church ruling body for the world. The churches in these countries supported the Vatican financially, a system that continues to exist. He had lost the Papal States, but built worldwide support for the Holy See in Rome as Pius centralized all power for the church in Rome and in the papacy.
In 1869, he convened the first Vatican Council. Many of the priests and bishops were questioning the power of the pope. The church was fragmented throughout the world due to the growth of so many different denominations. He had lost religious and political power.
At the Council, he set forth the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception – that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin. This had been a source of disagreement between several factions of the church and was now set forth as dogma.
There was the Syllabus of Errors – a list of things that Catholics were not allowed to believe in: modern thought, civil marriages and other forms of religious tolerance. And following this, Pius established papal infallibility. The pope was given full, direct power over the entire church and when he spoke ‘ex cathedra’ – from the chair, he was infallible.
Though many disagreed with these changes in doctrine, many others were glad to have some form of absolute truth set before them and were ready for the pope to establish the rules from which they would go forward. The Catholic Church would not make any changes in its structure until the second Vatican Council the early 1960s.
While the world was changing like crazy, there was one small portion of it that did not want to see any type of change at all. It may be hard to imagine, but until the mid 1800s, individual nations were not a strong force in the world. However, at this point, people began to assert their rights to have their own countries. France, Italy and others threw off outside rule and set forth their nations based on language and geography.
Pope Pius IX tried to create an Italian-speaking state, giving the Papal States a constitution. Assassinations sent him scurrying away from Rome until the French military helped him return. Italy wanted the Vatican to become financially reliant on the country and he refused. At this point, he set up treaties with many other countries – establishing the Vatican as the main church ruling body for the world. The churches in these countries supported the Vatican financially, a system that continues to exist. He had lost the Papal States, but built worldwide support for the Holy See in Rome as Pius centralized all power for the church in Rome and in the papacy.
In 1869, he convened the first Vatican Council. Many of the priests and bishops were questioning the power of the pope. The church was fragmented throughout the world due to the growth of so many different denominations. He had lost religious and political power.
At the Council, he set forth the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception – that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin. This had been a source of disagreement between several factions of the church and was now set forth as dogma.
There was the Syllabus of Errors – a list of things that Catholics were not allowed to believe in: modern thought, civil marriages and other forms of religious tolerance. And following this, Pius established papal infallibility. The pope was given full, direct power over the entire church and when he spoke ‘ex cathedra’ – from the chair, he was infallible.
Though many disagreed with these changes in doctrine, many others were glad to have some form of absolute truth set before them and were ready for the pope to establish the rules from which they would go forward. The Catholic Church would not make any changes in its structure until the second Vatican Council the early 1960s.
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