From the desk of the pastor for Dec. 28, 2025

The Lord be with you! Four weeks ago we paused our history of the Church to examine the theologies of Luther and Calvin. We now return to the 16th Century and the Church’s major response to the Protestants: the Council of Trent.

From 1545 to 1563 the Church met in Trent, Italy, which had been chosen for its neutrality. The Council was not continuous but had three main periods that were in turn broken up into 25 sessions. Wars, plagues, and papal elections kept the cardinals and other senior officials quite busy.

In its first period of meeting the Council affirmed the Latin Vulgate as the official Bible and affirmed its canon. Protestants had rejected a number of books from the Bible, which became known as the deuterocanonical books. In doing so the Church affirmed the common sense perspective that someone - in this case the Church - needed to determine what was Scripture and what was not. Trent also affirmed that both Scripture and Tradition were equally valid sources of revelation and had both been entrusted to the Church by Christ.

In its second period (1551-52) the Council of Trent affirmed the Church’s teaching about the Eucharist. Contrary to Luther and Calvin’s ideas, the Church stated clearly that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. Just as importantly the Church taught that the Mass is the Paschal Sacrifice and not just a mere remembrance of the event. The Church also defended the Sacrament of Penance as a real forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism and often necessary for the salvation of souls.

The Council went on hiatus for over a decade due to a war between the Holy Roman Emperor and Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire. When it resumed in 1562 the political landscape had shifted in the Holy Roman Empire and Lutheranism was there to stay. In light of that Peace of Augsburg, many in the Church wanted to demonstrate their sincere desire for reform. Accordingly, the final sessions of the Council of Trent focused on curbing obvious abuses, such as episcopal absenteeism and lack of discipline.

The Council of Trent deepened this movement of reform in the Church that would later be called the Counter Reformation. Whereas Catholic bishops and priests had tolerated a lot of lax behavior among themselves, the Church sought to instill fervor and good training in her clergy. For example, after Trent almost all priests would actually learn theology at seminaries and not merely from their local pastor.

The reforms of Trent may not have reconverted the Protestants, but they did bring new life into the Church. Those gathered at Trent would likely have never guessed that their work would define the Church for centuries. May we remember that all of work on earth is meant to echo into eternity.

In His Sacred Heart,

Fr. John