History of the Papacy

3 Key excerpts on "History of the Papacy"

• 

  eBook - ePub

  The Theory and Practice of History

  Edited with an introduction by Georg G. Iggers

  • Leopold von Ranke, Georg G. Iggers(Authors)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Part IV History of the Popes

  The History of the Popes offers a prime example of Ranke’s historiography. It reflects his concern to relate the history with which he is dealing to the broader context of universal history, in fact the history of the Western world. As he stated again and again in his Prefaces, his interest in the history of nations not his own was based on their importance for all of European history. The papacy, while not a nation, in Ranke’s eyes still in the early modern period exerted a significant influence on European history which, however, subsequently declined with the transition to modern religious outlooks and new political conditions. Moreover, the role of religion as a political force in history was a question of lasting interest to Ranke. Thus everything tended to lead him to a study of the papacy, not for its own sake, but for the religious idea it represented and as an important force on the European scene.

  We have selected two chapters that reflect particularly well Ranke’s approach to history. These chapters deal with a period and a theme crucial to Ranke’s histories: the transformation in the sixteenth century of religion and of international relations – for Ranke the two are closely interrelated. Specifically, the chapters deal with the rise of Protestantism but also with the revitalization of Catholicism in the counter-reformation after it had previously lost its religious and moral standards. This religious reorientation is seen in a political context in which the system of the great powers is born, in this case marked by the struggle between the French and the Habsburg monarchies for control of Italy along with the decline of the previously autonomous city states and the papacy as decisive political factors in Italy. These sets of events reflect the “tendencies” which Ranke sees operating in history. Yet the chapters also show that these very “tendencies” do not reduce the course of history to a predetermined scheme. A voluntaristic element enters into the decisions and actions of individuals at the center of power, primarily the popes and the monarchs, who bring a personal note into play that affects the direction in which history moves.

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book
• 

  eBook - ePub

  Luther's Revolution

  The Political Dimensions of Martin Luther's Universal Priesthood

  • Montover(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Pickwick Publications

    (Publisher)

  4

  The Social and Political Context of Papal Claims of Temporal Authority

  According to the great medievalist, Walter Ullmann, the social ordering of Western Christian society in the medieval period constituted the cosmology upon which society was constructed.1 The cosmos was understood as a manifestation of the Body of Christ, and, as the sole vicar of Christ, the pope could claim the right of principal authority. Temporal authority—including the authority of emperors—was understood as subordinate to papal power, especially by those who espoused the principles of papal authority. Though the conception of papal authority in the temporal realm was questioned at times, as we shall demonstrate below, the subjugation of the temporal authorities to the spiritual authorities developed gradually as the West moved from being a “neutral world” which contained two separate institutions, the church and the state to a “thoroughly Christianized world” which was, by the ninth century, encompassed by the concept of the ecclesia. 2 Thus, if the authority of the pope were to be challenged, the challenge would also extend to the very structures of temporal and secular power as it was understood in the medieval period.

  By the ninth century there were no longer two separate institutions, the church and the temporal authority. Rather there existed two powers, temporal and spiritual, within the Body of Christ.3 The natural world was incorporated into the spiritual world, and the result was the further development of the concept of papal plenitudo potestatis , or the plenitude of power possessed by the pope.4

  William McCready argues that it was the Investiture Controversy that finally solidified this incorporation of the natural world into the supernatural world and justified the pope’s claim that only the “functionally qualified”5 were justified in claiming to possess authority to rule. As a result of the Investiture Controversy, it was agreed that spiritual issues must be handled by spiritual authorities. The civil powers were reduced to their secular essence, the worldly sword.6

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book
• 

  eBook - ePub

  Modern Papal Diplomacy and Social Teaching in World Affairs

  • Mariano P. Barbato, Robert J. Joustra, Dennis R. Hoover, Mariano P. Barbato, Robert J. Joustra, Dennis R. Hoover(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  At the same time, the Catholic Pontiff also sits atop a transnational Church of unparalleled scope and breadth. Often deeply enmeshed in the cultural and political lives of individual countries, Catholic Bishops Conferences and individual prelates play significant roles in national contexts as diverse as Poland, Nicaragua, the Philippines, and yes, the US. The close relationship between these national actors and the Holy See dramatically multiplies the presence of the latter on the world stage, and offers the papacy the opportunity to affect world politics by influencing the non-Church actors who are the central players on the global stage. It is not just that certain national political processes cannot be fully understood without reference to the role that the “local” Catholic Church plays in them; it is also that global debates and global diplomacy are themselves arenas of participation by the Catholic Church because national delegations to them come from places where the voice of the Holy See is clearly and powerfully expressed.

  Finally, of course, the role of the Holy See is shaped and in some ways defined by the development of the modern papacy into a megaphone of global celebrity and soft power. Catholic historians will long debate the effects that John Paul II (the second longest serving Pope in history) had (and will have) on the institutional structures and doctrinal strictures of his Church. But what already seems beyond contradiction is that John Paul II’s decision to define his papacy through constant travel and aggressive use of his own personal presence as an instrument of institutional centralization has had world historic consequences for the nature of the papal role in global politics.

  I want to end this examination of the Pope’s participation in global politics with a brief look at a circumstance that highlights both the complexity of the political dynamics at the heart of contemporary international affairs and the variety of the tools available to the transnational Catholic Church for ensuring its participation in those complex dynamics. I am referring to the Holy See’s role in facilitating the resumption of formal diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba. The Holy See has served from time to time as a forum of international mediation in cases where parties to a dispute have either sought or accepted the “good offices” of the Pope as a forum, as it were, for conflict resolution. But the Holy See’s role in facilitating talks between the US and Cuba illustrated with particular clarity the three paths of political participation I have been highlighting in this article. Moreover, this case also shows how these three paths can intersect with each other, and place the Holy See and the Pope at the very center of international political processes of great significance. The Holy See had diplomatic relations with the US and Cuba; local Catholic leaders in both countries played significant political roles in their respective political settings and were able to cooperate with each other as “brother bishops” in the transnational Catholic Church; and a determined Latin American Pope, trusted on all sides, had made clear through his own prominent public statements that he viewed the continuing estrangement across ninety miles of the Florida Straits to be politically nonsensical and morally unacceptable.

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book