Decrees of the Council of Trent

The Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento, in northern Italy), was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation. 

Pope Paul III, who convoked the Council, oversaw the first eight sessions (1545-1547), while the twelfth to sixteenth sessions (1551-1552) was overseen by Pope Julius III, and the seventeenth to twenty-fifth sessions (1562-1563) by Pope Pius IV.

The doctrinal acts are as follows: after reaffirming the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (third session), the decree was passed (fourth session) confirming that the deuterocanonical books were on a par with the other books of the canon (against Luther's placement of these books in the Apocrypha of his edition) and coordinating Church tradition with the Scriptures as a rule of faith. The Vulgate translation was affirmed to be authoritative for the text of Scripture.

Justification (sixth session) was declared to be offered upon the basis of human cooperation with divine grace as opposed to the Protestant doctrine of passive reception of grace. Understanding the Protestant "faith alone" doctrine to be one of simple human confidence in divine mercy, the Council rejected the "vain confidence" of Protestants, stating that no one can know who has received the grace of God. Furthermore, the Council affirmed--against some Protestants--that the grace of God can be forfeited through mortal sin.

The greatest weight in the Council's decrees is given to the sacraments. The seven sacraments were reaffirmed and the Eucharist promounced to be a true propitiatory sacrifice as well as a sacrament, in which the bread and wine were consecrated into the Eucharist (thirteeth and twenty-second sessions). The term transubstantiation was used by the Council, but the specific Aristotelian explanation given by Scholasticism was not cited as dogmatic. Instead, the decree states that Christ is "really, truly, substantially present" in the consecrated forms. The sacrifice of the Mass was to be offered for dead and living alike and in giving to the Apostles the command "do this in remembrance of me," Christ conferred upon them sacerdotal power. The practice of withholding the cup from the laity was reaffirmed (twenty-first session) as one which the Church Fathers had commanded for good and sufficient reasons; yet in certain cases the Pope was made the supreme arbiter as to whether the rule should be strictly maintained. On the language of the Mass, "contrary to what was said," the Council condemned the belief that only vernacular language should be used, insisting in the use of Latin (already superceded by the Second Vatican Council).

Ordination (twenty-third session) was defined to imprint "indelible character" on the soul. The priest of the New Testament takes the place of Levitical priesthood. To the performance of its functions, the consent of the people is not necessary.

In the decrees on marriage (twenty-fourth session), the excellence of the celebate state was reaffirmed, concubinage condemned, and the validity of marriage made dependent upon the wedding taking place before a priest and two witnesses, although the lack of a requirement for parental consent ended a debate that had proceeded from the 12th century. In the case of a divorce, the right of the innocent party to marry was denied so long as the other party was alive, even if the other party had committed adultery. However, the Council "refused... to assert the necessity and usefulness of clerical celibacy." 

In the twenty-fifth and last session, the doctrines of purgatory, the invocation of Saints and the veneration of relics were reaffirmed, as was also the efficacy of indulgences as dispensed by the Church according to the power given to her, but with some cautionary recommendations, and a ban on the sale of indulgences. Short and rather inexplicit passages concerning religious images, were to have great impact on the development of Roman Catholic Christian Art. Much more than the Second Council of Nicaea (787), the Council fathers of Trent stressed the pedagogical purpose of Christian images.

The council appointed, in 1562 (eighteenth session), a commission to prepare a list of forbidden books (Index Librorum Prohibitorum), but it later left the matter to the Pope. The preparation of a catechism and the revision of the Breviary and Missal were also left to the Pope. The catechism embodied the Council's far-reaching results, including reforms and definitions of the sacraments, the Scriptures, Church dogma, and duties of the clergy.

On adjourning, the Council asked the supreme pontiff to ratify all its decrees and definitions. This petition was complied with by Pope Pius IV, on January 26, 1564, in the papal bull, Benedictus Deus, which enjoins strict obedience upon all Catholics and forbids, under the pain of excommunication, all unauthorized interpretation, reserving this to the Pope alone and threatens the disobedient with "the indignation of Almighty God and of his blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul." Pope Pius IV appointed a commission of Cardinals to assist him in interpreting and enforcing the decrees.

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