MacCulloch, Reformation, 400-41.

Identify: Oratorians, catacombs, Felippo Neri, Index of Prohibited Books, Robert Bellarmine, Carlo Borromeo, mission, auto-da-fé, Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross

In Chapter 9, we leave behind the Protestant heartlands of Northern Europe for the Catholic heartlands in the sunny south. The Italian and Iberian peninsulas were bastions of Catholicism. But MacCulloch does not stop here. He sends us to the Americas and Asia to reveal the important missionary impulse of Catholicism in the sixteenth century. The chapter is largely about "Tridentine Europe" and "Tridentine Catholicism" (400) or Counter-Reformation Catholicism, of which the Tridentine Catechsim was the "ultimate expression" (301), but MacCulloch acknowledges, as O'Malley pointed out in his article, that Trent breathed not a word about the "world mission of the renewed Catholic Church," which "became one of the most distinctive features of southern European Catholicism" (427).

The story of Tridentine Catholicism is certainly one of repression, but at the same time "it is also a tale of intense personal searches for God and his saints" (400). We read of the Index of Prohibited Books and of the "damaging excesses" of Carlo Borromeo's episcopal regime in Milan (412). But MacCulloch also tells of the new cult of martyrs, of high-flying cardinals, of Jesuit missions in Italy, and of those "rebellious Carmelites," Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross (426). Owing to, not despite of, Borromeo's dour authoritarianism, this model bishop of "Tridentine Europe" (cf. 475) proved to be an avid reformer. Possessed of an "emaciated joylessness" (412), he may have tried to ban dancing on Sundays and feast days, but he also founded a diocesan seminary, insisted on regular preaching by priests, introduced the confessional box, and supported the Ursulines and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. If "papal Catholicism" may be "usefully described as Tridentine" (306), nevertheless we discover that the Church's power in Italy was not "monolithic" (407). Venice retained its independent outlook and faced down the interdict of Paul V (409). A popular outcry in favour Carmelite scapulars overpowered the doubts of the Roman Inquisition (414).

Spain sent out the Armada in 1588 and had its own inquisition, which frequently enough celebrated autos-da-fé. True, those who offended religious sensibilities were burned, but not always. Shaming was an effective tool in identifying and condemning deviant behaviour. The Spanish Inquisiton was not as lethal as other European tribunals. Cardinal Ximénes' legacy of Church reform endured under Philip II. Not only did efforts at reforming religious orders continue, but seminaries sprouted up to enhance the education of the clergy, who in turn devoted themselves to teaching the laity the essentials of their faith. Although it attracted the suspicions of the Inquisition, mysticism flourished.

Many of the missionaries were Spanish. MacCulloch maintains: "The long-term success of Spanish evangelism in the Americas was to make the Catholic Church an essential part of Indio culture as well as a tie binding it to the cultures of southern Europe" (431). Of course, missionaries were imbued with a sense of cultural superiority, yet "the Church did achieve a remarkable degree of synthesis between Christianity and those elements of native culture that it allowed to survive" (430). Jesuits in the Asian missions went beyond the "Iberian mission in the Americas" when confronted with different religious cultures (433). You should be aware of who the missionaries were, what techniques they employed, and how effective their efforts were.