The Roots of Modernity
Age of the Enlightenment

17th & 18th Century
intellectual movement
 Focus on human reason to
understand the world, make
life better for all, and solve all
our problems
○ Sound familiar?
 Flowed out of the
Renaissance and
Reformation
Age of the Enlightenment

Rulers, scientists, and
philosophers began to
challenge political authority,
traditional philosophy, and
the authority of the Church
Age of the Enlightenment:
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Wrote The Leviathan
 Man is a selfish beast
 Left to himself, he would live a life as
“solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”
○ Why would he say this?
 Only absolute political authority could solve
this problem.

These ideas became very influential
among leaders in Europe, especially in
France.
Age of the Enlightenment:
King Louis XIV (1638-1715)

Embodied absolute authority
 Took Hobbes’ thought to an extreme

All law & rights flowed from him
 Dismissed all the powerful nobles, and
turned affairs of government over to lesser
nobles

He practiced his Catholic faith, but saw
himself as the head of the Church in
France
○ Who else recently had done this???
 Outlawed Protestantism
Trouble in the French Church:
Gallicanism
 Goes back to the time of Philip the Fair (d.1314) & Pope
Boniface VIII
○ He sought independence of the French (Gallican) Church
from Rome.

Louis XIV docile to the Church in most matters
but…
 He had an assembly of French clergy draft a declaration
asserting the authority of the Gallican Church
 Louis ordered that these “Four Gallican Articles” be taught
in all seminaries.

Pope Alexander VIII condemned these principles
Trouble in the French Church:
The Gallican Articles
1. The Pope only has authority over
spiritual, not temporal things.
 2. Council of Constance – concerning
absolute power of a council – upheld.
 3. Papal authority is limited.
 4. The Pope’s decisions must be
consented to by the Church.

Trouble in the French Church:
Jansenism

Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638)
 French bishop

Developed a new “understanding” of St.
Augustine
 God only granted salvific grace to a small
number of people, the rest were predestined
to damnation
 Sound familiar???
Trouble in the French Church:
Jansenism

A very austere theology grew out of
these teachings
 Surprised?

Eventually he denied the Sacrament of
Penance
 Only the “just” (those who had practiced
severe mortification), could receive Holy
Communion.
 Is this a problem?
○ Rejects Apostolic Faith, Sacraments as clearly
instituted by Jesus Christ (see Trent)
Trouble in the French Church:
God’s Response…

St. Margaret Mary (1647-1690)
 Visitation Nun; Paray-le-Monial,
France

Our Lord appeared to her during
prayer
Trouble in the French Church:
God’s Response…

Our Lord appeared to her during
prayer
 Behold this Heart that hath so much
loved all men!
 Perhaps a coincidence…BUT I
DOUBT IT!

To counter people’s false notion
of God’s desire to save all men
Age of the Enlightenment:
A Radical Shift in Ideas

Scientific discoveries lead some to believe science
and nature could help correct all the problems of
society, including poverty, disease and war.
 Brought a new skepticism
 Reason took precedence over faith

Made possible by the Renaissance and
Reformation
 Humanism (from what period?) had focused man on his
power to reason
 The Reformation challenged traditional religious authority
and gave priority to the individual’s subjective
interpretation (ex. interpretation of Scripture)
Age of the Enlightenment:
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

A Catholic, strong in his faith
 1 problem: Theology NOT related to Philosophy

Brilliant mathematician and (not-so-brilliant)
philosopher – too influenced by humanism
 Wanted to develop a system of philosophy;
starts by focusing on human knowledge
○ How do I know? How do I know what I know?
○ How do I know that I exist? (most basic question)

Human knowledge, he claims, is the
only thing that could be certain…
Age of the Enlightenment:
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Since knowledge is certain
 Senses not to be trusted; what if there’s an evil
genius tricking me?
 “I think, therefore, I am”
○ NOT: Duh, of course I exist!
○ Denied man’s ability to know reality as it really is
○ Relying too much on the subject; St. Thomas would
have turned to the object for truth, trusting the senses.

By dismissing anything not based on
scientific data, Descartes put a huge
wedge between faith and reason
 Modern philosophy has not recovered from this
Age of the Enlightenment:
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Galileo’s discoveries came as the
Church was growing more wary of
science
 During the Protestant Reformation, the
Church was attacked for advocating
human reason and Scholastic education
to the neglect of Sacred Scripture

 The Church was now trying emphasize to
Scripture to explain her origins
 Some of Galileo’s observations contradicted
prevalent interpretations of Scripture
Age of the Enlightenment:
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Attempting to demonstrate faithful
adherence to SS, ecclesiastical
authorities condemned the theories of
Galileo
 The Church (St. Robert Bellarmine) asked
him to present his ideas as a hypothesis
rather than a declaration.

Galileo refused, and he was arrested
Age of the Enlightenment:
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Wasn’t the Catholic Church wrong in condemning Galileo and
therefore fallible in what it teaches?
 The Church freely admits that Galileo’s tribunal was wrong in certain
respects, but that does not in any way "disprove" the Catholic
Church’s claim to infallibility. The Church never has claimed its
ordinary tribunals to be infallible. They have disciplinary and juridical
authority only; neither they nor their decisions are infallible. Only a
pope or an ecumenical council is infallible, and then only in special
circumstances. While the Holy Office’s condemnation was ratified by
Urban VIII, there are three conditions which must be present in order
for a pope to exercise the charism of infallibility: He must speak in
his official capacity as the successor of Peter; he must solemnly
define a doctrine relating to faith or morals; he must indicate the
doctrine is to be held by all the faithful. In Galileo’s case the second
and third conditions were not present, and possibly not even the first.

Age of the Enlightenment:
Deism

Enlightenment philosophies rejected
Divine revelation and supernatural
religion
 Proved the Church’s greatest opponent
All knowledge ought to be based on
demonstration by the light of human
reason
 In keeping with this position,
philosophers came up with a notion of
God called Deism

Age of the Enlightenment:
Deism

5 Principles of Deism
 God exists
 It is necessary that we honor God
 We have the duty of living virtuous and pious
lives
 We should avoid sin and have the will to
improve ourselves
 All religions believe in a reward and
punishment here and hereafter
Age of the Enlightenment:
Deism

God is like a watchmaker
 Wind it up and let it go
 Total rejection of God’s Providence

Therefore, God could not demand faith
nor require prayers
 Only reason is necessary to guide an
individual through life
 Not the Deposit of Faith or Providence
Age of the Enlightenment:
Freemasons

By 1717, many Deists formed a secret
fraternal organization known as the
Freemasons.
 God seen as the grand architect of the
universe
 Masons base practices, rules, &
organization on Enlightenment philosophy
and reason
Age of the Enlightenment:
Freemasons

Especially in the past, they have secretly
worked to destroy the Catholic Church
and undermine her influence
 Ex. Masons cremate their dead as a way of
denigrating the Christian concept of the
resurrection of the body, daring God to put
back together what they have destroyed.

They have been condemned by at least
nine popes
 Also condemned by Bishop Bruskewitz
Francois-Marie Voltaire
(1694-1778)

A genius for expressing Enlightenment sentiments
in his writings to spread Enlightenment ideas
 One of the most renowned writers of the Encyclopedia

Hated the Catholic Church
 Attacked Catholic dogma, the priesthood, Sacred
Scripture, and even Christ himself


Belief in God and deciding between good and evil
arose from reason alone
So long as a government was “enlightened”, it
could have absolute power
 Enlightened despotism; any objections?

In the end, he’s said to have repented, and
requested a Catholic burial
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778)
He believed society created rules to take
away individual freedom
 Man is naturally good, but society forces
him to violence and falsehood

 His chief work – The Social Contract

Solution: liberty and equality
 Individuals should not be subject to anyone
 Is this a problem?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778)

For the sake of protection, free individuals
living in a society could create a “social
contract”
 Establish an authority to rule and legislate

Interpretations of his writings lead to
revolutionary movements and totalitarian
regimes of 18th, 19th and 20th centuries
 Laid the philosophical groundwork for the
French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution
and the emergence of fascism
 These always bring a rejection of human dignity
Enlightenment and modernity combine in this depiction of the
electric spark of liberty overturning the thrones of the crowned
heads of Europe and the Pope
Suppression of the Jesuits

The only ORDER equipped to address
the intellectuals of the
ENLIGHTENMENT
 Because of their influence, intellectual
ability, and loyalty to the Pope, they were
hated by those who espoused
Enlightenment principles.

In France, Freemasons, intellectuals,
Jansenists, etc. are all against the
Jesuits
 Jesuits banished from Portugal, France,
Spain and Naples
Age of Enlightenment:
Suppression of the Jesuits

Jesuits accused of a number of political &
economic failures by various governments
 Clement XIII defends the Jesuits while many kings
were suppressing them
 When Clement XIV begins his papacy, threatened
w/schism by Church in France, Spain, and Portugal
 Why do you think he chose to avoid schism?

1773 – Pope Clement XIV, pressured by
several kings, suppressed the Jesuit Order
 Poor pope! What could he do in the
circumstances in which he was placed, with all
the Sovereigns conspiring to demand this
Suppression? As for ourselves, we must keep
silence, respect the secret judgment of God, and
hold ourselves in peace – St. Alphonsus di Ligouri

They would be restored by Pope Pius VII in
1814
The French Revolution (1789-1799):
Liberty, equality, fraternity

Destroyed the Church in France
 Church property was confiscated, and
many priests and religious were killed.
 Many martyrs
○ Carmelite martyrs of Compeigne (canonized)
○ River at Lyon
 Cathedral of Paris (Notre Dame) became a
temple to the Goddess of Reason
 Christian calendar was replaced by a 10day week.

A state-sponsored Deistic religion was
set up
 All talk, practice, and promotion of
Catholicism was strictly and brutally
repressed.
The French Revolution (1789-1799):
Liberty, equality, fraternity

The Reign of Terror
 One regime after another tried to take
control, each one worse than previous
 Hobbes was partially correct: man can
be a savage beast

Liberty, equality, and fraternity only
for those in power…
 None for those on the outside
 Robespierre had “Committee of Public
Safety” responsible for executions

Rousseau, are we really naturally
good?
 Is the Catholic Church really that bad?
Basilique du
Sacre Coeur – Paris
Napoleon Bonaparte
(1769-1821)
Initially friendly toward the Church.
 Eventually turned against the Church
and began to persecute it.

 Abolished priestly celibacy, suppressed
religious orders, and invaded the Papal
States and imprisoned the Pope for six
years.

After a failed campaign in Russia, the
other powers of Europe invaded France
and forced Napoleon to abdicate
Liberalism


From the Latin word for freedom “liberalis”
Glorified absolute individual freedom and
supported the overthrow of any government or
institution that limited that freedom
 Freedom of religion, conscience, speech and press was
seen as incompatible with Catholic teaching since the
Church was associated with the monarchy

The Church was seen as a hindrance to political
and social progress
 Many liberals of the 19th century sought to destroy the
Church
 Sound familiar???
Liberalism

Liberalism bases society and its rules on
the general will of the people
 Many of its principles regarding human rights do
reflect natural law
 Among the first proponents were Rousseau who
believed that monarchies were out-of-date and
unjust
 Any thoughts???
 Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but,
when separated from law and justice, he is the
worst of all. – Aristotle
Liberalism
After Napoleon’s defeat, the powers of
Europe met to divide power.
 Austria, Prussia and Russia were all
wary of liberalism and attempted to
suppress liberal governments

The Church in Prussia

After 1815, Prussia sought to impose
rigid unity over the other German states.
 Goal was to establish a single nation, but
also to get rid of the Church’s “oppressive”
control
 Introduced policies designed to undermine
Catholic influence in Germany.
 In 1825 a new law was passed requiring
children to be raised in the father’s religion.
The Church in Prussia

Prussian executives (Protestants) were
then sent into Catholic German states
with the purpose of marrying young
Catholic girls
 They hoped to establish a Protestant
leadership in these Catholic areas

Pope Pius VIII responded to this by
requiring all Catholics who married
outside the Faith to instruct their children
in the Catholic Faith
EUROPE: 1815
The Church in the U.S.
Immigrants from Ireland and Germany
began to flood the United states in 1820
 By 1850 immigrants from Germany, Italy
and Eastern Europe made Catholicism
one of the largest Christian
denominations in the country

 This influx frightened the Protestant-
American public and led to a fierce antiCatholic backlash
 Books and pamphlets were distributed that
attacked the morals of priests and nuns
The Church in the U.S.

Churches were burned and some
Catholics were lynched
 Political parties such as the Know-nothing
Party became popular on nativist, anti-Catholic
and anti-immigrant platforms


To protect each other, Catholics
developed a support network based on
parish life
Established parochial schools,
orphanages, hospitals, and nursing
homes as a way of preserving their
Catholic Faith.