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The great theological revival that began with the Council of Trent,
and that made itself felt in the Latin countries, died away
gradually, to be followed in the eighteenth century by a period of
decline. Scholars like Bellarmine, De Lugo, and Suarez had
passed away without leaving anybody behind them worthy to take their
places. Except in the field of ecclesiastical history and of
historical theology the whole tendency was downwards.
The principal causes that paved the way for this universal decline were
the spread of Gallicanism and Jansenism with the consequent waste of
energy to which these controversies led, the state of lethargy produced
by the enslavement of the Church, the withdrawal of ecclesiastical
students, the suppression of the Society of Jesus, and the rejection
of the Scholastic system of philosophy in favour of the vagaries of
Descartes or of the Leibniz-Wolf school in Germany.
The rise of the Rationalist school in France, threatening as it did
the very foundations of Christianity, called for the activity of a new
group of apologists, who would do for Christianity in the eighteenth
century what had been done for it against the pagan philosophers of old
by men like Justin Martyr and Lactantius. Unfortunately, however,
though many able works were produced at the time, few if any of them
could lay claim to the literary charms or vigour of expression that
characterised the works of the enemies of religion. The principal
apologists in France at this period were "Huet" (d. 1721),
"Sommier" (d. 1737), the Oratorian "Houteville" (d.
1742), "Baltius, S.J." (d. 1743), "Bullet",
professor in the University of Besancon (d. 1775),
"Bergier", one of the most distinguished of Bullet's pupils (d.
1790), "Guenee" (d. 1803), the able opponent of
Voltaire, and "Feller, S.J." (d. 1802), whose
"Catechisme philosophique" and "Dictionnaire Historique" enjoyed
a widespread popularity long after the writer had passed away.
In dogmatic theology the leading representatives of the Thomistic
school were without doubt "Vincent Louis Gotti"
(1664-1742) and "Charles Rene Billuart"
(1685-1757). The former of these was born at Bologna,
entered the Dominican novitiate at an early age, was the author of
several polemical works directed against the Lutherans and
Calvinists, and was created cardinal (1728). On account of his
ability, prudence, and sanctity of life he exercised a wonderful
influence both within and without his order in France, so much so that
in the conclave of 1740 his election to the papacy was favoured by a
large body of his colleagues. Cardinal Gotti's greatest work was his
commentary on St. Thomas, entitled "Theologia
Scholastico-Dogmatica iuxta mentem D. Thomae"
(1727-1735). "Billuart" was born at Ardennes in
Belgium, and on the completion of his classical studies he became a
novice in the Dominican convent at Lille. For the years during which
he held several positions in Dominican houses in Belgium his abilities
as a writer, professor, and preacher, attracted so much attention
that on the petition of Billuart's colleagues at Douay, the general
of the order decided to entrust him with the work of preparing an
exhaustive and authoritative commentary on the "Summa" of Saint
Thomas. After five years hard work the edition was completed and was
published at Liege in nineteen volumes[206] (1746-51). A
compendium was issued in 1754.
The best known and ablest exponent of the theological system of Duns
Scotus was "Claude Frassen" (1621-1711). He was born
at Peronne, joined the Franciscans, and was sent to Paris, where
he taught theology for years. His great work is his "Scotus
Academicus", a commentary or explanation of the theological system of
Duns Scotus. Both on account of its faithful exposition of the views
of Scotus and of the excellent method and style in which it is composed
this work enjoyed and enjoys a considerable reputation.[207] Of the
theologians of the Augustinian school the two best known were
"Lorenzo Berti" (1696- 1766) whose "De Theologies
Disciplinis" (1739-45) led to an imputation of Jansenism,
from which the author was cleared by the verdict of Benedict XIV,
and "Cardinal Norris" (1631-1704) for a long time
professor of ecclesiastical history at the University of Padua,
against whose books, "Historia Pelagiana" and "Vindiciae
Augustanae", a prohibition was levelled by the Spanish
Inquisition, but reversed on appeal to Benedict XIV.
The endless controversies to which Jansenism gave rise had lowered the
reputation of the Sorbonne. The greatest representative of this
centre of theological learning at this period was "Honore
Tournely", the steadfast opponent of Jansenism, whose
"Praelectiones Theologicae" (1738-40) was regarded as one
of the most important works of the time. In the defence of the Holy
See against the attacks of Febronius the greatest writers were
"Zaccaria" (1714-95) who wrote voluminously on theology,
ecclesiastical history and canon law; "Alfonso Muzzarelli"
(1749-1813), the Dominican, "Cardinal Orsi"
(1693-1761), and "Cardinal Gerdil"
(1718-1802), whose election to the papacy on the death of
Pius VI was vetoed by the Emperor. The "Theologia
Wirceburgenis" published by the Jesuits of Wurzburg
(1766-71) contained a complete and masterly summary of the
entire theological course.
Though Billuart and many of his contemporaries, following in the
footsteps of St. Thomas, dealt with both dogmatic and moral
theology, the tendency to treat the latter as a distinct department and
to give more attention to what may be termed the casuistical side of
moral theology became more marked. To a certain extent, at least in
manuals intended for the use of the clergy, such a method was rendered
necessary by the frequent and more comprehensive character of the
confessions. Yet it furnished some apparent justification for the
onslaughts of the Jansenists, who thought that they detected in the
new method a degradation of theology, a divorce between religion and
casuistry, and a return to the unholy hair-splitting of the
Pharisees.
Closely allied with the opposition to the new method adopted by the
moral theologians was the controversy on Probabilism, that divided the
schools during the greater part of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. In the practical solution of doubtful obligations
Probabilism had been applied for centuries, but it was only towards
the end of the sixteenth century that the principle was formulated
definitely by the Dominican, De Medina. It was accepted
immediately by a great body of the Jesuits, as well as by nearly all
writers on moral theology. The Jansenists, however, in their
eagerness to damage the reputation of their Jesuit opponents charged
them with having introduced this novel and lax system of morals with the
object of catering for the depraved tastes of their degenerate clients,
and this charge when presented in a popular and telling style by their
opponents created a distinctly unfavourable impression against the
Society. The condemnation of Probabilism by the University of
Louvain (1655) and the outcry raised against it by the Rigorist
party led most of the religious orders and the secular clergy to abandon
the system. Two incidents that took place shortly afterwards helped to
strengthen the anti-Probabilist party. One of these was the
condemnation by the Holy See of certain very lax principles put
forward by some theologians who labelled themselves Probabilists
(1679), and the other was the decision given by Innocent
XI[208] in the case of the defence of Probabiliorism written by
Thyrsus Gonzalez (1624-1705) afterwards general of the
Jesuits. His superiors refused him permission to publish his work,
and on appeal to the Pope this prohibition was removed (1680).
But though the Pope certainly favoured Probabiliorism it is not clear
that his decision gave any practical sanction to this opinion.
Rigorism was dealt a severe blow by the condemnation issued by
Alexander VIII (1690), and in the end the influence and
writings of St. Alphonsus put an end to both extremes.
Amongst the great theologians of the time were the Jesuit "Lacroix"
(1652-1714), "Paul Gabriel Antoine, S.J."
(1679-1743) professor at the Jesuit College of
Pont-a-Mousson, "Billuart" (1685-1757), "Eusebius
Amort" (1692-1775), and the "Salmanticenses", the
Jesuit authors of the series on moral theology begun in Salamanca in
1665. But by far the most remarkable writer on moral theology
during the eighteenth century was "Saint Alphonsus de'
Liguori"[209] (1697-1787), the founder of the
Redemptorists. A saint, a scholar, and a practical missionary,
with a long and varied experience in the care of souls, he understood
better than most of his contemporaries how to hold the scales fairly
between laxity and rigorism. Though his views were attacked severely
enough in his own time they found favour with the great body of
theologians and the approbation given to them by the Church helped to
put an end to the rigorist opinions, that remained even after their
Jansenistic origin had been forgotten.
The spread of indifferentist or rationalist theories could not fail to
weaken the reverence that had been inculcated by the early Reformers
for the Bible as the sole source of God's revelation to men. Acting
upon Luther's principle of private judgment others, regardless of
their inspiration and infallibility, undertook to subject the
Scriptures to the authority of human reason. Faustus Socinus
(1539- 1604), one of the founders of the Socinian sect,
insisted that everything in the Scriptures that seems opposed to reason
could not have come from God and should be eliminated. For some time
while religious fervour was at its height both Lutherans and
Calvinists held fast by their religious formularies and refused to
accept the scriptural views of Socinus. But once dogmatic religion
had been assailed by the new philosophico-rationalist school in
England, Germany, and France the way was prepared for the
acceptance of more liberal views. On the one hand, many of the
extreme opponents of Christianity set themselves to point out the
errors of the Bible, as a proof that it could not have come from
God, while, on the other, many of the Protestant scholars, who
still held by a divine Christian revelation, endeavoured to eliminate
from it the supernatural without rejecting openly the authority of the
Scriptures.
It was with this design that Jacob Semler (1725-91)
formulated the Accommodation Theory, according to which Christ and
His Apostles accommodated their actions and their language to the
erroneous notions prevalent among the Jews in their time, and for this
reason all that bordered upon the mysterious should be regarded merely
as a surrender to contemporary superstition. Another method of
arriving at a similar conclusion was adopted by Kant, who maintained
that the Bible was written only to inculcate morality and to strengthen
man's moral sense, and that all that is recorded in it must be
interpreted by reason in the light of the object which its authors had
in view.
With such liberal theories about the authority and inspiration of the
Scriptures in the air it was almost impossible that the Catholic
exegetists could escape the contagion. One of the ablest Catholic
writers at the time, the French Oratorian "Richard Simon"
(1638-1712), was accused by his contemporaries of having
approached too closely to the rationalist system in his scriptural
theories. He was a man well- versed in the Oriental languages and
well able to appreciate the literary and historical difficulties that
might be urged against the inspiration and inerrancy of the Old
Testament. He maintained that the Bible was a literary production,
and that, as such it should be interpreted according to the ideas and
methods of composition prevalent in the country or at the time in which
the various books were written. His views were contained in his
"Histoire Critique de Vieux Testament" (1678) and his
"Histoire Critique de Texte du Nouveau Testament" (1689),
both of which, though undoubtedly able works that have considerably
influenced scriptural study amongst Catholics since that time, were
severely criticised, and were condemned by the Congregation of the
Index.
Another French Oratorian of the period, "Bernard Lamy"
(1640-1715), dealt with the introduction to the Scriptures
in his two books "Apparatus ad Biblia Sacra" (1687) and
"Apparatus Biblicus" (1696). As a professor of philosophy
Lamy had stirred up already a strong opposition owing to his evident
leanings towards Cartesianism, nor was he less unhappy in his
scriptural studies. He questioned the historical character of the
narrations contained in the books of Tobias and Judith, and contended
that notwithstanding the decrees of the Council of Trent less
authority should be attributed to the Deutero-Canonical than to the
Proto-Canonical books of the Bible.
Amongst the leading scriptural commentators were "Le Maistre de
Saci" (d. 1684), a Jansenist, who published translations of
the Old and the New Testament, the latter of which was put upon the
Index; "Piconio" (Henri Bernardine de Picquigny,
1633-1709) a Capuchin whose "Triplex Exposito in
Sacrosancta D.N. Jesu Christi Evangelia" (1726), has not
been surpassed till the present day; "Louis de Carrieres"
(1622-1717), whose "La Sainte Bible en Francais avec un
commentaire litteral" founded on De Saci's translation was
recognised as one of the simplest and best commentaries on the
Scriptures; "Charles Francois Houbigant" (1686-1783),
also an Oratorian, who published an edition of the Hebrew Bible and
the Greek text of the Deutero-Canonical books together with a
Prolegomena, and "Dom Calmet" (1672-1757), a
Benedictine, who published in twenty-three volumes a commentary on
the Old and New Testament accompanied by an introduction to the
various books (1707- 1716).
In no department of theological science were greater advances made
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than in that of
ecclesiastical history and historical theology. This was due largely
to the labours and example of the Benedictines of St. Maur. Men
like "Luc d'Achery" (1609-1685), "Stephen Baluze"
(1630-1718), "Jean Mabillon" (1632-1704),
"Edmond Martene" (1654-1739), "Ruinart" (1657-
1709), "Muratori" (1672-1750), "Bouquet"
(1685-1754), "Jean Hardouin, S.J."
(1646-1729), "Domenico Mansi" (1692-1769),
and the Orientalists Joseph "Simeon Assemani"
(1687-1768) and his brother "Joseph Aloysius"
(1710-82) laid the foundations of modern historical research,
by their publication of correct editions of the Early and Middle Age
writers and of the decrees of the various general, national, and
provincial councils, as well as by the example which they set in their
own scholarly dissertations of how historical materials should be used.
In addition to the publication of collections of original sources,
works like the "Gallia Christiana", begun in 1715 by the
Benedictines of St. Maur and continued by them till the
Revolution, "Espana Sagrada" begun by the Augustinian Enrique
Florez in 1747, and the "Italia Sacra" (1643-1662)
of Ferdinand Ughelli contained a veritable mine of information for
future historians. Of the historical writers of this period the ablest
were "Louis Sebastien Le Nain de Tillemont" (1637-
1689), the author of the "Histoire des Empereurs pendant les
six premiers Siecles" and "Memoires pour servir a l'histoire eccl.
des six premiers siecles" (1693); "Claude Fleury"
(1640-1725) whose great work, "Histoire Ecclesiastique"
(dealing with the period from the Ascension till the Council of
Constance, 1414) is marred only by the Gallican tendencies of
its author, and "Natalis Alexander" (Noel Alexandre,
1639-1724), a French Dominican who published an exceedingly
valuable Church History under the title "Selecta Historiae Eccl.
Capita", etc., but which was condemned by Innocent XI
(1684) on account of the markedly Gallican bias under which it
was composed.
Amongst some of the most noted authorities on Canon Law during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were "Benedict XIV"
(1675-1758) many of whose treatises are regarded as standard
works till the present day; "Pirhing" (1606-1679), a
Jesuit, professor at Dillingen and Ingolstadt and well known as a
theologian and canonist; "Reiffenstuel" (1641-1703), a
Bavarian Franciscan for some time professor at Freising, the author
of several theological works, and unequalled as a Canonist in his own
day; "Van Espen" (1649-1728) professor at Louvain, a
strong supporter of Gallicanism and Jansenism, whose great work
"Jus Canonicum Universum" is marred by the pro- Gallican
proclivities of its author; "Schmalzgrueber"
(1663-1735), a Bavarian Jesuit, professor of Canon Law
at Dillingen and Ingolstadt, who in addition to treatises on such
subjects as Trials, Espousals, Matrimony, and the Regular and
Secular Clergy, published a work covering the entire Canon Law
("Jus Eccl. Universum"), and the Italian "Lucius Ferraris"
(d. 1763), whose "Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica" went
through several editions in the author's own lifetime and has been
republished more than once since his death (latest edition 1899).
In the department of sacred oratory the palm must undoubtedly be
awarded to the French Church. "Jacques-Benigne Bossuet"[210]
(1627- 1704), in many senses the greatest of the French
preachers, was the son of a lawyer at Dijon. Even in his early youth
he was remarkable for his mastery of the Bible and classical authors.
He studied at the University of Paris, and after remaining two years
under the spiritual education of St. Vincent de Paul was ordained a
priest in 1662. He returned to Metz, in the cathedral of which
he held a canonry, and where his abilities as a preacher and a
controversialist soon attracted attention. He was appointed preceptor
to the Dauphin of France, an office which he held from 1670 to
1681, when he was consecrated Bishop of Meaux. As bishop he
took part in the Assembly of the French Clergy (1681-82)
and, though himself not such an extreme defender of Gallicanism as
many of his contemporaries, he is credited generally with having been
the author of the famous Declaration of the Clergy, known as the
Articles of the Gallican Church. At the invitation of Louis
XIV he composed a treatise in defence of these articles,
"Defensio Declarationis", etc., published after his death
(1730). As an orator Bossuet was far ahead of the preachers of
his time, and as a writer and controversialist he had few equals. His
untiring energy and ability are vouched for by the number of able works
that proceeded from his pen. Of these the most instructive and best
known are the "Discours sur l'histoire Universelle" (1681),
and the "Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protestantes"
(1688-89). His want of firmness, however, in his relations
with the court, leading him as it did to show a sympathy which he could
not have felt in his heart towards Gallicanism, his failure to move a
finger to stay the ravages of Jansenism, his want of zeal for the
spiritual care of his diocese, in marked contrast with the energy which
he displayed when seeking to score a personal triumph over Fenelon and
other less known adversaries, cannot be forgotten by any one who wishes
to arrive at an impartial estimate of Bossuet's character.
"Fenelon"[211] (1651-1715), the great contemporary and
rival of Bossuet, was sent as a youth for his education to the
Universities of Cahors and Paris. Later on he returned to the
seminary of Saint Sulpice then presided over by M. Tronson the
superior of the Sulpicians, to whose wise and prudent counsels the
future Archbishop of Cambrai was deeply indebted. After the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes he was sent to preach to the
Huguenots, upon whom his kindness and humility made a much more
lasting impression than the violence resorted to by some of the
officials of Louis XIV. Later on he was appointed preceptor to the
Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV, for whose education
he composed the "Fables, Telemaque", etc., and on the completion
of his work as tutor he was nominated Archbishop of Cambrai
(1695). Hardly had he received this honour than he was involved
in a controversy on Quietism, which controversy cost him the
friendship of Bossuet and the patronage of Louis XIV, by whom he
was banished from the French court. But Fenelon found much at
Cambrai to console him for what he had lost in Paris. In every sense
of the word he proved himself a model bishop, visiting his parishes
regularly, preaching in his cathedral and throughout his diocese, and
always affable to those who came in contact with him whether they were
rich or poor. Unlike Bossuet he never feared to speak out boldly
against Jansenism and Gallicanism. As a preacher and a master of
French literary style he was inferior to Bossuet, but as a man and as
a bishop he was incomparably his superior. In addition to his works on
literary and political questions he wrote voluminously on theology,
philosophy, and the spiritual life.
The opposition to Scholasticism, that manifested itself in the
writings and teaching of so many Humanists, grew more accentuated in
the universities, especially after the establishment of ecclesiastical
seminaries had led to the withdrawal from the universities of a great
body of the clerical students. For centuries philosophy and theology
had gone hand in hand, the former supplying the rational basis for the
acceptance of revelation, the latter providing the necessary restraint
upon the vagaries of human thought. The principal of individual
judgment, proclaimed by the early Reformers and received so
enthusiastically by their followers, had as its logical consequence an
exaggeration of the powers of the human mind at the expense of
authority, with the result that scepticism, atheism, and
materialism, found favour in learned circles.
In face of such evident proofs of the limitations of the human mind,
and with the object of preserving in one way or another the Christian
Revelation, a reaction against the supposed infallibility of reason
set in both amongst Protestant and Catholic scholars. Catholic
philosophers were inclined to distrust reason entirely, and to rely
solely on divine authority as a guarantee of truth. In other words
they accepted Traditionalism, while Protestants, equally suspicious
of reason, proclaimed that in judging the value of revelation the human
will and sentiment must be heeded as well as the intellect, that is to
say they accepted Sentimentalism.
The attempt to replace Scholasticism by some new philosophic system
gave rise to various schools of thought, most of which can be traced
back ultimately to Bacon and Descartes, the former a partisan of the
inductive, the latter of the deductive method. "Rene
Descartes"[212] (1596-1649) was born at Touraine, and
received his early education with the Jesuits. In his desire to see
the world for himself he took service as a soldier in the army of
Prince Maurice of Nassau, and later on in that of the Elector of
Bavaria. He retired from active life to give himself up to the study
of mathematics and philosophy. At first he found a quiet retreat in
Holland, from which he migrated to Stockholm at the invitation of
Queen Christina. Here after a few months' residence he died.
Throughout his life Descartes remained a sincere and practical
Catholic. Putting aside Revelation, with which he did not profess
to deal, Descartes, by an application of his principle of methodic
doubt, arrived at the conclusion that the foundation of all certainty
lay in the proposition "Cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I
exist). From an examination of his own ideas of a most perfect being
he arrived at the conclusion that God exists, and from the existence
of a good and wise supreme Being who has given men reason, sense, and
perception in order to acquire knowledge, he argued that these
faculties cannot lead men into error, and that consequently the
veracity of God was the ultimate basis of certitude.
The theories of Descartes were pushed to their logical conclusion by
those who succeeded him. "Blaise Pascal"[213]
(1623-1662) was influenced largely by the false mysticism of
the Middle Ages. He distrusted reason and exalted faith, as the
only means of answering the difficulties that pure intellectualism could
not solve. "Arnold Geulincx" (1625-1669) at first a
Catholic and afterwards a Calvinist, arguing from the antithesis
supposed by Descartes to exist between mind and matter, maintained
that since matter was inert it could not produce the sensations and
volitions which men experienced, and that therefore these must be
caused by God. In other words he propounded the theory of
Occasionalism. This doctrine of Occasionalism as furnishing an
explanation of sensations was extended by Malebranche[214]
(1638-1715), a student of the Sorbonne, so as to explain
the origin of human ideas. These he maintained could not come from
outside, because there can be no contact between mind and matter; they
could not come from the mind itself, because creation is an attribute
only of the infinite being, and therefore they must come from God.
Hence, according to him, it is in God or in the divine essence that
we see all things (Ontologism). If all activity and all knowledge
come directly from God, it was only natural to conclude, as did
"Spinoza" (1632-77), that there exists only one substance
endowed with the two attributes of thought and extension (Monism,
Pantheism).[215]
From this brief sketch it will be seen that the rejection of the
Scholastic System and the divorce between theology and philosophy led
to dogmatic chaos, and ultimately to the rejection of divine
revelation. By his attacks on the old proofs given for the existence
of God and the motives of credibility, by the emphasis which he placed
upon methodic doubt as the only safe way to certainty, and by the
suspicions raised by him against the reliability of human reason,
Descartes unwittingly paved the way for scepticism and atheism.
Though his system was condemned by Rome and forbidden more than once
by Louis XIV it was taken up by the Oratorians and by most of the
leading scholars in France.
The spirit of the eighteenth century was distinctly unfavourable to the
religious orders. The Rationalists, the Freemasons, and the
friends of absolutism joined hands in opposing the foundation of new
establishments and in securing the suppression of the houses that had
already been founded. In Austria, in Naples, in Spain, and in
France a violent campaign was carried on to bring about the dissolution
of several of the religious orders and congregations, or at least to so
alter their rules and constitutions that they should be cut adrift from
Rome and subject to the authority of the secular rulers. During the
campaign many houses were suppressed in Austria and in the other
territories of the empire, but by far the greatest victory of which its
authors could boast was the suppression of the Society of Jesus.
Yet in spite of the enemies of the Church the religious orders held
their ground, and apostolic men arose to lay the foundations of new
bodies, that were destined to take a glorious part in the religious
revival of the nineteenth century. One of the most remarkable of these
was St. Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori[216]
(1696-1787). He was born near Naples, adopted at first
the profession of a lawyer, but he soon forsook the bar to give himself
entirely to God, and was ordained a priest in 1726. In 1732
he laid the foundation of a new religious society, the Congregation of
the Most Holy Redeemer, which was approved by Benedict XIV in
1749. After having refused various honours he was compelled to
accept the Bishopric of St. Agatha (1762) from which he
retired in 1775 to devote himself to prayer, and to the composition
of those spiritual treatises that have given him such a leading place
not merely as a moral theologian but as a master in the ascetic life.
In 1744 he issued his Notes on Busenbaum's Moral Theology,
which notes formed the basis of his "Theologia Moralis" published in
1753-55, and which went through nine editions during his own
life-time. He was declared Venerable (1796), canonised
(1839), and recognised as a Doctor of the Church (1871).
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (The Redemptorists)
was founded by St. Alphonsus at Scala, near Amalfi, in the
kingdom of Naples (1732), and was approved in 1749. The
aim of its members was to imitate the virtues and example of Jesus
Christ, our Redeemer, by consecrating themselves especially to
preaching the word of God to the poor. The opposition of the
Neapolitan prime minister, Tanucci, was a source of great trouble to
the holy founder. On the fall of Tanucci St. Alphonsus thought
that a favourable opportunity had come for securing the approval of the
government, but he was betrayed by his friends into accepting a
modification of the constitution, the "Regolamento"
(1779-80), which led to a separation between the Redemptorist
houses in Naples and those situated in the Papal States. The
dispute was, however, healed in 1793. The Society spread
rapidly in Italy, in Germany, where its interests were safeguarded
by Father Hofbauer, and during the nineteenth century houses were
established in every country in Europe, in America and in
Australia.
The Passionists[217] (The Congregation of Discalced Clerics of
the Most Holy Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ) were
founded by St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775). The
latter was born at Ovada near Genoa, was ordained by Pope Benedict
XIII (1727) who at the same time gave his approval of the
rules drawn up for the new society, founded his first house at
Argentaro, and thereby laid the foundation of the Congregation of the
Passionists. The new society received the formal sanction and
approval of Clement XIV (1769) and of Pius VI
(1775). Before the death of the founder several houses had been
established in Italy, all of which were suppressed during the
disturbances that followed in the wake of the French Revolution. The
congregation was, however, re-constituted by Pius VII
(1814), and spread rapidly in Europe, in the United States,
and in South America. The first house of the Passionists in
England was established by the celebrated Father Dominic at Aston
Hall in Staffordshire (1842), and the first house in Ireland
was opened at Mount Argus in 1856.
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