Safe-conduct given to the Protestants. Decree for the Suspension of this Council. Decree for Celebrating the Council. Extension of the Safe-conduct to other Nations. Doctrine of Communion under both Species. The method of erecting new Parishes is set forth. What must be observed in this respect. The Ordinaries shall publish Indulgences and Spiritual Graces. Two of the Chapters shall, gratuitously, receive the Alms. Doctrine touching the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Its mysteries shall be explained to the people. Canons IX. Decree touching the things to be observed and to be avoided in the celebration of the Mass. The Qualifications and Duties of those who hold Benefices therein.
Decree touching the Petition for the Concession of the Chalice. The true and Catholic Doctrine touching the Sacrament of Orders, in condemnation of the errors of our time, decreed and published by the Holy Synod of Trent, in the Seventh session. Canons VIII.
Doctrine touching the Sacrament of Matrimony. Canons XII. Decree touching the Reformation of Marriage. Bishops may dispense with the banns. If any one contracts Marriage otherwise than in the presence of the Parish Priest, and of two or three other witnesses, it comes to nothing.
The parish church to be frequented, in order to hear the word of God. No one shall preach in opposition to the will of the Bishop. During solemnization of Mass, the sacred pages shall be explained. A Penitentiary to be instituted in Cathedral Churches. The chapter, Quum capella, concerning privileges, is renewed. Parishes to be distinguished by certain boundaries.
In what form, and by whom, those nominated to Parochial Churches ought to be examined. Decree touching Purgatory. Concerning Regulars and Nuns. Superiors shall sedulously take care that this be done. The number of persons therein is to be determined by the amount of income or of alms.
No Monastery is to be erected without the Bishop's permission. When absent for the sake of study, he shall reside in a Monastery.
No one shall be set over two Nunneries. The Bishop shall provide them with an extraordinary confessor. The Eucharist shall not be reserved for them out of the public Church. But far be it from me to detract from the learning and industry of Dr. On the contrary, I willingly confess myself indebted to his translation for many important hints and suggestions. My own aim, however, has been to produce a more rigidly literal version, even to the sacrifice of style.
The concise and technical dryness of such documents is greatly against the translator; but the self-denial of a conscientious accuracy is his first duty, most of all in matters where religion is concerned. The few notes appended to the translation are chiefly glossarial; for the pressure of other literary engagements prevented the possibility of adding such a commentary as I trust to publish, should the success of this volume call for a second edition.
I must not omit to do justice to the industrious and attentive co-operation, throughout a considerable portion of the work, of Dr. Spillan, of Trinity College, Dublin, the able translator of the first decade of Livy.
To the Rev. At the beginning of this our pontificate, which, not on account of our own merits, but, of its own great goodness, the providence of Almighty God hath committed unto us, already perceiving into what disturbances of the times, and unto how many embarrassments of almost all our affairs, our pastoral care and watchfulness were called; we desired, indeed, to remedy the evils of the Christian commonwealth, with which it had long been afflicted and well-nigh overwhelmed; but we also, as men compassed with infirmity , [3] perceived that our strength was unequal to take upon us so great a burthen.
For, whereas we saw that there was need of peace to deliver and preserve the commonwealth from the many impending dangers, we found all things replete with enmities and dissensions; above all, the princes, to whom well-nigh the whole direction of matters has been intrusted by God, at enmity with each other.
Whereas we could have wished the commonwealth safe and defended from the arms and insidious attacks of the unfaithful, yet, through our transgressions and the guilt of us all,—the wrath of God, forsooth, hanging over our sins,—Rhodes had been lost; Hungary harassed; war both by land and sea had been intended and planned against Italy, Austria, and Illyria; whilst our impious and ruthless enemy, the Turk, was never at rest, and deemed our own mutual enmities and dissensions his fitting opportunity for carrying out his designs with success.
Wherefore, as we have said, having been called upon to guide and govern the bark of Peter, in so great a tempest, and in the midst of so violently-upraised waves of heresies, dissensions, and wars, and, as we did not rely sufficiently on our own strength, we, first of all, cast our cares upon the Lord , [5] that He might sustain us, and furnish our soul with firmness and strength, our mind with prudence and wisdom.
But, as the enemy of mankind ever sets his snares against holy deeds, at the very first, contrary to all our hope and expectation, the city of Mantua was refused us, unless we would submit to certain conditions, which we have described in other letters of ours, utterly alien from the institutes of our ancestors, the state of the times, our own dignity and liberty, that of this Holy See, and of the ecclesiastical name.
We were, therefore, necessitated to find another place, and to choose some other city; and whereas one fit and suitable did not immediately occur to us, we were compelled to prorogue the celebration of the council until the ensuing calends of November.
Nevertheless, we did not meanwhile omit to consult with the Christian princes, and to exhort them to inform us what, in their opinion, would be a suitable place for holding the council: and whereas their opinions were wavering and various, and delay seemed to be unnecessarily protracted, we, with the best intent, and, as we think, with the best judgment, fixed on Vicenza, a wealthy city, and one which, by the valour, authority, and power of the Venetians, who granted it to us, offered in a special manner both unobstructed access, and a free and safe place of residence for all.
But whereas too much time had already passed away; and it was requisite to signify to all the new city that had been chosen; and whereas the approaching calends of November precluded the possibility of making the announcement [of this change] public, and winter was now near; we were again compelled to defer, by another prorogation, the time for the council till the next ensuing spring, and the next calends of May. They, yielding at last to our prayers, betook themselves to Nice; whither we also, for the cause of God, and to bring about peace, undertook a long journey, though greatly unsuited to our advanced age.
Meanwhile, as the time fixed for the council, the calends, to wit, of May, drew nigh, we did not omit to send to Vicenza three legates a latere ,—men of the greatest virtue and authority, chosen from the number of the aforesaid our own brethren, the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church,—to open the council; to receive the prelates as they arrived from various quarters; and to transact and manage such matters as they should deem necessary, until we, returning from our journey and message of peace, should be able to direct everything with greater precision.
In the mean time, we applied ourselves to that holy and most necessary work, to wit, the negotiation of peace between the princes; and this with all the zeal, the affection, and the earnestness of our soul. God is our witness, relying on whose clemency we exposed ourselves to the dangers of that journey to the peril of our life: our conscience is our witness, which herein, at least, cannot reproach us with having either passed by, or not sought for, an opportunity of effecting a reconciliation: the princes themselves are our witnesses, whom we so often and so earnestly conjured by our nuncios, letters, legates, admonitions, exhortations, and by all kinds of entreaties, to lay aside their jealousies, to unite in alliance, with combined zeal and forces to succour the Christian commonwealth, which was now reduced to the most pressing danger.
Yea, witnesses too are those watchings and cares, those labours of our soul both by day and night, and those grievous solicitudes, which we have already endured to such an extent in this business and cause. Yet have our counsels and acts not as yet brought about the wished-for result. For so hath it seemed good to the Lord God, who, however, we doubt not will yet cast a more favourable eye on our wishes. For ourselves, we, as far as in us lay, have not, indeed, omitted anything in this matter that was due from our pastoral office.
And if there be any who interpret our labours in behalf of peace in any other sense, we are grieved indeed; but, in our grief, we, nevertheless, return thanks to Almighty God, who, as a pattern and lesson of patience unto us, willed that His own apostles should be accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus [10] who is our peace. They have excused themselves upon both these points,—because it was at that time necessary for them to return to their kingdoms, and because the prelates whom they had with them, being wearied and exhausted by the journey and its expenses, must needs be refreshed and recruited,—exhorted us to decree yet another prorogation of the time for holding the council.
And whereas we made some difficulty in yielding in this matter, we meanwhile received letters from our legates at Vicenza, to the effect that, although the day for opening the council had arrived, nay, had long since passed by, barely one or two prelates from any of the foreign nations had betaken themselves to Vicenza.
Upon receiving this information, clerceiving that the council could not, under any circumstances, be held at that time, we granted to the aforesaid princes, that the time for holding the council should be deferred till the next holy Easter, the feast-day of the Resurrection of the Lord. Of which our ordinance and prorogation, the decretal letters were given and published at Genoa, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord , on the fourth of the calends of July. And for this reason also, they both begged of us, that this negotiation of peace might precede the celebration of the council; since, peace once established, the council itself would then be much more useful and salutary to the Christian commonwealth.
For it was this hope of peace, thus held out to us, that ever moved us to assent to the wishes of the princes; a hope which was greatly increased by the kindly and friendly interview between those two princes after our departure from Nice; the news of which being received with very great joy, confirmed us in our good hope, that we believed that our prayers had at length been heard by God, and our earnest prayers for peace received.
We accordingly did so, and despatched our letters touching such suspension to each of the above-named princes, on the 10th day of June, , as from them may be clearly seen.
This suspension, then, having been of necessity made by us, whilst we were awaiting that more suitable time, and some conclusion of peace which was later to bring both dignity and numbers to the council, and more immediate safety to the Christian commonweal; the affairs of Christendom, meanwhile, fell daily into a worse state. The Hungarians, upon the death of their king, had invited the Turk; King Ferdinand had declared war against them; a party of the Belgians had been incited to revolt from the most serene emperor, who, to crush that revolution, traversed France on the most friendly and concordant terms with the most Christian king, and with great show of mutual good-will towards each other; and, having reached Belgium, thence passed into Germany, where he commenced holding diets [13] of the princes and cities of Germany, with the view of treating of that concord of which he had spoken to us.
But since,—the hope of peace now failing,—the scheme of procuring and treating of reunion in those diets seemed rather adapted to excite greater discords, we were led to revert to our former remedy of a general council; and by our legates, cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, we proposed this to the emperor himself; and this we did finally and especially in the diet of Ratisbon, on which occasion our beloved son, Cardinal Gaspar Contarini, of the title of St.
Praxedes, acted as our legate with the greatest learning and integrity. For we hoped that thereby both peace might be restored to the Christian people, and the integrity of the Christian religion; yet were we desirous to hold that [council] with the good-will and favour of the Christian princes.
And, whilst awaiting this good-will, whilst watching for that hidden time, for the time of thy good pleasure, O God , [14] we were at last compelled to come to the conclusion, that every time is well pleasing unto God wherein deliberations are entered upon touching holy things, and such as relate to Christian piety.
Wherefore, beholding with the greatest pain of our soul, that the affairs of Christendom were daily hurrying on to a worse state,—Hungary being overwhelmed by the Turks, Germany endangered, all the other states oppressed with terror and affliction,—we resolved to await no longer the consent of any prince, but to look solely to the will of the omnipotent God, and the advantage of the Christian commonwealth.
Accordingly, as we no longer had the city of Vicenza, aud were desirous, in our own choice of a new place for holding the council, to have regard both to the common welfare of Christians, and also to the troubles of the German nation; and seeing, upon several places being proposed, that they [15] wished for the city of Trent, we,—although we deemed that everything might be transacted more conveniently in Italy, [16] —nevertheless yielded up our will, with paternal charity, to their demands.
But that day for the council has been sought for by us which allowed sufficient time both for publishing this our decree throughout the Christian nations, and for giving all prelates an opportunity of coming.
Our reason for not prescribing that a whole year should expire before changing the place of the council, as has been before ordained by certain constitutions, [18] was this, that we were unwilling that our hope should be any longer delayed of applying a remedy to some extent to the Christian commonwealth, suffering as it is under so many disasters and calamities. And yet we observe the times, we acknowledge the difficulties.
We know that what may be hoped for from our councils is uncertain. But, seeing it is written, Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass [19] we have resolved rather to trust in the clemency and mercy of God, than to distrust our own weakness.
For it often happens, upon engaging in good works, that what human counsels fail in, the divine power accomplishes. But if, which we would fain wish otherwise, they shall be unable to come in person, let them at least send, with full powers to act, [21] as their deputies, men of weight, who may each in the council represent the person of his prince with prudence and dignity. And that these our letters, and the contents thereof, may come to the knowledge of all whom it concerns, and that no one may plead ignorance thereof as an excuse, especially also as there may not perhaps be free access to all, unto whom our letters ought to be individually communicated; we will and ordain, that in the Vatican Basilica of the prince of the apostles, and in the Lateran Church, at the time when the multitude of the people is wont to be assembled there to hear divine service, they be read publicly in a loud voice by officers of our court, or by certain public notaries; and, after having been read, be affixed to the doors of the said churches, also to the gates of the apostolic Chancery, and to the usual place in the Campo di Fiore, where they shall for some time hang exposed to be read and seen by all; and, when removed thence, copies thereof shall still remain affixed in the same places.
For we will that, by being thus read, published, and affixed, all and each of those whom our aforesaid letters include, shall be obliged and bound, after the interval of two months from the day of the letters being published and affixed, even as if they had been read and communicated to them in person. And we ordain and decree, that a certain and undoubting faith be given to copies thereof written, or subscribed by the hand of a public notary, and guaranteed by the seal of some ecclesiastic constituted in authority.
Wherefore, let it be lawful for no man to infringe this our letter of indiction, announcement, convocation, statute, decree, mandate, precept, and entreaty, or with rash daring go contrary thereunto.
But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of His blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Doth it please you, unto the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; for the increase and exaltation of the Christian faith and religion; for the extirpation of heresies; for the peace and union of the Church; for the reformation of the Christian clergy and people; for the depression and extinction of the enemies of the Christian name, to decree and declare that the sacred and general Council of Trent do begin, and hath begun?
And whereas the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is near at hand, and other festivals of the concluding and commencing year follow thereupon, doth it please you, that the first ensuing session be held on the Thursday after the Epiphany, which will be the seventh of the month of January, in the year of the Lord ?
Furthermore, it exhorts that they fast at least on every Friday, in memory of the passion of the Lord, and bestow alms on the poor. Furthermore, on every Thursday there shall be celebrated, in the cathedral church, the mass of the Holy Ghost, with the litanies and other prayers appointed to this end; and on the same day there shall be said, in the other churches, at least the litanies and prayers.
And during the time that the sacred services are being performed, let there be no talkings or conversations together, but, with mouth and mind, association with the celebrant.
And inasmuch as It behoveth bishops to be blameless, sober, chaste, ruling well their own household , [30] [the council] exhorts also that, above all things, each observe sobriety at table, and moderation in diet; further, that, since idle conversations are often wont to arise there, the reading of the divine Scriptures be introduced, [31] even at the tables of bishops; and let each teach and instruct his servants not to be quarrelsome, given to wine, immodest, covetous, haughty, blasphemous, and lovers of pleasures; in fine, let them shun vice and embrace virtue, and in dress, appearance, and in all their actions show forth modesty, as becomes the servants of the servants of God.
Moreover, whereas it is the chief care, solicitude, and intention of this sacred and holy council, that, the darkness of heresies, which during so many years has covered the earth, being dispelled, the light, brightness, and purity of Catholic truth may, by the aid of Jesus Christ, who is the true light , [32] shine forth; and that those things which need reformation may be reformed; the same synod exhorts all Catholics here assembled, and to be assembled, and especially those who are skilled in the sacred letters, that by sedulous meditation they diligently reflect within themselves, by what ways and means the intention of the synod may be best directed, and obtain the desired effect; that, in the most prompt and prudent manner, things to be condemned, may be condemned; and things to be approved, approved; that so, throughout the whole world, all may, with one mouth, and with the same confession of faith, glorify God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But in delivering their sentiments, when the priests of the Lord are sitting together in the place of benediction, no one, according to the statute of the Council of Toledo, [33] ought either to be boisterous by immoderate outcries, or cause disturbance by uproar; none to be contentious with false, vain, or obstinate disputations; but let whatsoever is said be so tempered by the mildest utterance of the words spoken, that neither the hearers be offended, nor the clear perception of a correct judgment warped by the mind being troubled.
Furthermore, this sacred synod has ordained and decreed, that if it should chance to happen that any do not sit in their due place, and [thus] deliver their sentiments, even under the word It pleaseth , are present at the congregations, and take part in any other act soever while the council lasts, none shall thereby be prejudiced, none acquire a new right.
After this, the next Session was indicted for Thursday, the 4th of the ensuing month of February. Wherefore, it has thought good, that the symbol [37] of faith which the holy Roman Church makes use of, as being that principle wherein all who profess the faith of Christ must necessarily agree, and that firm and only foundation against which the gates of hell shall never prevail , [38] be expressed in the very same words in which it is read in all the churches.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Of the New Testament: the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke the Evangelist; fourteen epistles of Paul the apostle, [one] to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, [one] to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, [one] to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews; two of Peter the apostle, three of John the apostle, one of the apostle James, one of Jude the apostle, and the Apocalypse of John the Apostle.
But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, these same books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately despise the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema. Moreover, the same sacred and holy synod, considering that no little utility may accrue to the Church of God, if, out of all the Latin editions, now in circulation of the sacred books, it be known which is to be held as authentic, ordains and declares, that the said old and vulgate edition, which, by the long usage of so many ages, has been approved in the Church, be, in public lectures, disputations, preachings, and expositions, held as authentic; and that no one is to dare, or presume to reject it under any pretext soever.
Furthermore, in order to restrain petulant spirits, It decrees, that no one, relying on his own skill, shall, in matters of faith, and of morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine, wresting the sacred Scripture to his own senses, dare to interpret the said sacred Scripture contrary to that sense which holy mother Church, whose it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the holy Scriptures, hath held and doth hold; or even contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers; even though suchlike interpretations were never [intended] to be at any time published.
But as to those who lend, or circulate them in manuscript, without their having been first examined and approved, they shall be subjected to the same penalties as the printers. And they who shall have them in their possession, or shall read them, shall, unless they discover the authors, be themselves regarded as the authors. And this approbation of books of this kind shall be given in writing; and to this end it shall appear authentically at the beginning of the book, whether the book be written or printed; and all this, that is, both the approbation and the examination, shall be done gratis, so that things to be approved, may be approved, and things to be condemned, condemned.
After these matters, wishing to repress that temerity, by which the words and sentences of sacred Scripture are turned and twisted to all manner of profane uses, to wit, to things scurrilous, fabulous, vain, to flatteries, detractions, superstitions, impious and diabolical incantations, divinations, casting of lots, nay, even hereafter defamatory libels; [the synod] commands and enjoins, for the doing away with this kind of irreverence and contempt, and that no one may hereafter dare in any manner to apply the words of sacred Scripture to these and such like purposes; that all men of this description, profaners and violators of the word of God, be restrained by the bishops by the penalties of law and of their own appointment.
Likewise, this sacred and holy synod resolves and decrees, that the next ensuing session be held and celebrated on the Thursday after the next most sacred festival of Pentecost. If any one does not confess that the first man, Adam, when he had transgressed the commandment of God in Paradise, immediately lost the holiness and justice in which he had been constituted; and that he incurred, through the offence of such prevarication, the wrath and indignation of God, and consequently death, which God had previously threatened to him, [51] and, together with death, captivity under the power of him who thenceforth had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil, [52] and that the entire Adam, through that offence of prevarication, was changed as respects the body and soul, for the worse; let him be anathema.
If any one asserts, that the prevarication of Adam injured himself alone, and not his posterity; and that he lost for himself alone, and not for us also, the holiness and justice, received of God, which he lost; or that he, defiled by the sin of disobedience, has only transfused death, and pains of the body, into the whole human race, but not sin also, which is the death of the soul, let him be anathema; inasmuch as he contradicts the apostle, who says: By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.
If any one asserts that this sin of Adam, which in its origin is one, and being transfused into all by propagation, not by imitation, is in each one as his own, is taken away either by the powers of human nature, or by any other remedy than the merit of the one mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ , [54] who hath reconciled us to God in his own blood, made unto us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption ; [55] or, if he denies that the same merit of Jesus Christ is applied, both to adults and to infants, by the sacrament of baptism rightly administered in the form of the Church; let him be anathema: For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.
For that which the apostle has said, By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men in whom all have sinned , [61] is not to be understood otherwise than as the Catholic Church spread everywhere hath always understood it.
For, by reason of this rule of faith, from a tradition of the apostles, even infants, who could not as yet in themselves commit any sin, are for this cause truly baptized for the remission of sins , that in them that which they have contracted by generation, may be cleansed away by regeneration. For, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. If any one denies, that, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is conferred in baptism, the guilt of original sin is remitted; or even asserts that all that which has the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away, but says that it is only erased, [63] or not imputed,—let him be anathema.
For, in those who are born again , God hates nothing, because, There is no condemnation to those who are truly buried together with Christ by baptism into death; [64] who walk not according to the flesh , but, putting off the old man, and putting on the new one, who is created according to God , [65] are made innocent, immaculate, pure, harmless, and beloved of God, heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ ; [66] so that there is nothing whatever to retard them from entrance into heaven.
But this holy synod confesses and is sensible, that in the baptized there remains concupiscence, or an incentive [to sin]; [67] which, since it is left for us to strive against, cannot injure those who consent not, but resist manfully by the grace of Jesus Christ; yea, he who shall have striven lawfully shall be crowned. And if any one is of a contrary opinion, let him be anathema. This same holy synod doth nevertheless declare, that it is not in its intention to include in this decree, where original sin is treated of, the blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary, the mother of God; but that the constitutions of Pope Sixtus IV.
The same sacred and holy synod, adhering to the pious constitutions of the sovereign pontiffs, and of approved councils, and embracing and adding to them; that the heavenly treasure of the sacred books, which the Holy Ghost has with the greatest liberality delivered unto men, may not lie neglected, hath ordained and decreed, that, in those churches where there is found to be a prebend, prestimony, [72] or other stipend, under what name soever, destined for readers [73] in sacred theology, the bishops, archbishops, primates, and other ordinaries of those places, shall force and compel, even by the subtraction of the fruits, those who hold such prebend, prestimony, or stipend, unto the expounding and interpreting of the said sacred Scripture, either personally, if they be competent, or otherwise by a competent substitute, to be chosen by the said bishops, archbishops, primates, and other ordinaries of those places.
But, for the future, let no such prebend, prestimony, or stipend be bestowed save on competent persons, and those who can of themselves fulfil that office; and let the provision made otherwise be null and void. But in metropolitan, or cathedral churches, if the city be distinguished or populous, and also in collegiate churches situated in any large town, even though they belong to no diocese, provided the clergy be numerous there; wherein there is no such prebend, prestimony, or stipend, set aside for this purpose, let the prebend that shall first become vacant in any way soever, except by reason of resignation, and to which some other incompatible burthen is not attached, be understood to be ipso facto appointed and set apart to that purpose for ever.
And in case that in the said churches there should not be any, or not any sufficient prebend, let the metropolitan, or the bishop himself, by the assigning thereunto of the fruits of some simple benefice, the burthen of the obligations thereto belonging being nevertheless discharged, or by the contributions of the beneficiaries of his city and diocese, or otherwise, as may be most convenient, provide in such wise, with the advice of his chapter, as that the said reading of sacred Scripture be held; yet so that what other readings soever there may be, whether established by custom, or in any other way, be not by any means therefore omitted.
The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book without typos from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. The canons and decrees of Vatican Council I define papal infallibility. The Syllabus, written in , is astonishingly contemporary and a revelation to most Catholics.
It clearly enunciates 80 modern errors. English versions of recent ecclesiastical decrees are easily found in pamphlet, book, or periodical.
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