The Role of the Laity in the Catholic Counter-Reformation     The 16th century Catholic Church was under pressure to reform as the teachings of Martin Luther, Calvin, and other theologians broke with the Church to form new religious orders.  The response of the Church was a counter-reformation, or a series of reforms designed to undercut and ultimately destroy the protestant movements.  While the Church designed much of the reforms within the clergy, thus protecting its hierarchical structure, Church officials knew they needed to address the restless laity as well to prevent further defections.  The laity was expected to reinforce the Church through continued devotion to Church teachings, renewed expressions of faith, and obedience to the Church hierarchy.  Through these means, the laity could participate in the reform and renewal of the Church and prevent further fissures within Catholic society.             Reform movements within the Church had been underway for a long while.  Yet those reforms had little effect at stemming the tide of protestant movements breaking away throughout Europe.  Lutheranism and other religious orders were gaining a foothold and the Church recognized a further series of reforms would be needed if Catholicism were to remain the dominant force it had been for centuries.  The Church focused reforms from the top down to reinforce its control of the laity and restore the orthodoxy necessary to battle the lure of the Christian splinter groups.  Yet the Church did turn attention to the laity in the form of a series of decrees issued by the Council of Trent.  These meetings and the decisions they produced aimed at quelling dissent within the laity, and reinforce its traditional role as protector of the faith and spiritual guardian of the flock.[1]             The basic tenets of the Church were of primary concern.  The various breakaway groups diluted Church teachings therefore restating the fundamental principles in a powerful and public forum was a demarcation line that was impossible to misinterpret.  The Council of Trent defined (or re-defined) the duties of the faithful and outlined the specific (and only acceptable) methods of worship and holy observance.  The confession of faith set forth each aspect of belief necessary for a true believer to possess.  Key among the articles of faith was recognition of the Catholic Church as the sole earthly authority of God’s word.  This was a direct assault on any other claim of authority outside Catholicism.  The duty of faithful Catholics was first and foremost to reject anything outside the Church as heretical.[2]              However the Church recognized dissent needed to be tackled in more specific terms therefore it set forth canons directed at the targets of protestant complaints.  Good Catholics were to observe all the sacraments and not selectively choose which to follow and which to disregard.  It reinforced the necessity and purity of the Eucharist and Mass and offered reasons why alterations to, or disputes about, these sacraments were heresy and punishable.  Lay people were expected to honour the sacraments in precisely the manners set forth by the Church.  Marriage rules and bans on divorce reiterated religious control instead of a secular control.[3]             Beyond simply setting parameters however, the Council of Trent canons also made it the job of the laity to shun those who advocated anything that contradicted the Church.  Many of the canons begin, “If anyone says”, or “If anyone denies” thus making mere disputations heretical, but also enjoining believers to make those persons an  “anathema” as well.  This tied the laity into the struggle of battling the protestant movement.  Though this was largely an ideological battle, the Church also encouraged the laity to physically protect Catholicism as well.[4]             The protestant movement flourished and many Catholics found themselves living under hostile conditions.  Persecutions and threats of violence were no excuse for the righteous Catholics to reject their faith.  The corporeal was ultimately subject to the eternal.  For such devotion, even in the face death, reward would be found for true believers such as Margaret Clitheroe who was put to death in late 16th century England.  Clitheroe was one of approximately 300 people who suffered a similar fate during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Her execution for her Catholicism led to her canonization.  It was important for the souls of the laity to remain loyal to the Church even unto death.  Persecution was widespread and the faithful had a duty to rebel against the Protestants.  Anti-protestant processions, such as those in Venice in support of the Holy League, were public display of contempt for the heretical critics of the Church.  The laity became soldiers in the army of God (and the Church) and these open counter-protests prefigured the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants that were beginning to envelop Europe.[5]             The daily life of the laity was to be spent in pious contemplation.  To reinforce the teachings of the Church, religious images were employed to great degree.  The interiors of churches were filled with ornate displays of artwork depicting biblical scenes and saints.  The Carolus Borromeus church in Antwerp, for example, had 39 ceiling painting and a large painting behind the altar that had a mechanism designed to switch the painting on command.  Could this have been some form of a 16th century “show” to entertain the faithful as well as inform them?  It is impossible to think such a display would not have a powerful effect on the laity, marvelling at he grandeur of the Church. These visual aids served a dual purpose- to inspire the faithful in their worship and to overwhelm the viewer with the power and majesty of the Church.[6]             Ornaments were not relegated solely to buildings and monuments.  The rosaries that Catholics used for prayer and contemplation of their faith were also at times rather elaborate. The detail and craftsmanship in beads were expressions of faith and reminders of the symbols and holy images on which the laity could rely on to inspire their devotion to the Church.  The rosary served a functional purpose also- as a prayer counting device.  Rosaries, carried around daily in the hands of the laity, served as a constant link to God and the Church.[7]             Another mission for the laity to perform was the pilgrimage.  As a sign of their devotion to the Church, the faithful could take holy tours to sacred sites and view examples of other chapels and artwork.  Such travels showed the extent of the Church’s reach to distant places, and the uniformity of the messages of Church doctrine.  Pilgrimages were physical exercises designed to express the laities devotion to the Church as well.  Travel was rigorous in the 16th century and therefore required a deep personal commitment and a risk to one’s health and safety.             For those who could not make such trips, other physical expressions were encouraged.  Processionals with religious iconography, such as Marian devotions, gave the laity a chance for public displays of their faith in a more localized setting.  Parades such as those exemplified by the citizens of Louvain required dozens of people to carry a large image of the Holy Mother through the streets.  The size of the representation of Mary and the frame used to carry it would necessitate a large amount of physical stress and sacrifice- further proof of one’s faith.[8]             In each instance, whether reaffirming the sacraments, the visual representations, physical responsibilities, the Church promoted not only the faith and duties of the laity, but reminded them of the supremacy of the Church hierarchy.  The sacraments were not to be performed by the laity, only observed by them.  The artwork and symbols were designed as visual reminders of specific teachings so that the laity would not have to question particular tenets.  The rosaries were smaller for the laity than for the clergy, reinforcing the concept of the differing responsibilities.  The message was clear: in the counter-reformation, the laity was a line of defense, but not in charge.  They merely received the orders of their superiors within the Church and were duty bound to follow them.             Yet the Church realized that certain criticisms of the reform movements had merit and that changes needed to be made to retain the loyalty of the laity.  Therefore in some instances, such as the Litany of Loretto, the Church recognized minor changes in the traditional services.  They also decided that in some cases the local language could be used to spread Church teachings to uneducated people, replacing some of the less ritualistic aspects of the Mass to be more appealing.  This was especially useful in places such as Germany where the Protestant movement had grown powerful using such techniques to draw members away from the Catholic Church.  Still, these decisions remained the purview of the Church hierarchy and changes like Loretto could occur only at the edict of Pope Sixtus V.[9]             The Church also deemed what books the laity could read, what books could be produced, and especially which translation of the Bible was accepted.  This was a frontal assault on the methods of Protestant teachings.  The Protestants had used the media of the day to spread their messages and criticisms of the Church.  The Catholic laity was expected to ignore these heretical teachings, and if they worked within the publishing business, refrain from producing such works.[10]              Throughout the counter-reformation, the Church attempted to strictly define the role of the laity.  While many of these rules were restatements of past principles, occasionally new reforms were issued as well.  The laity responsibilities were largely framed for the individual worship and contemplative nature of a good and devout Catholic life.  These rules were clarifications designed to remove uncertainties in the minds of the faithful in the wake of the Protestant critiques and splintering reform movements in Catholicism.  However, the measures also strengthened the laity and their ability to challenge the Protestant movement and inspired them in the face of persecution.  Thus for Catholics the 16th century, though filled with tribulation and schism, was also a time for renewal of faith and the Church through reforms within and a counter-reformation without.                                     BIBLIOGRAPHY   Council of Trent, in Catholic Reformation Readings, HIS309 PDF.   Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Collection, website http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/08/euwl/hod_17.190.475.htm   Italian Travel website, http://www.initaly.com/regions/piedmont/orta.htm   Belgian Travel website, http://www.trabel.com/antwerp/antwerp-carolus.htm .   Litany of Lorretto, HIS309 PDF   http://0251657083.free.fr/divers/johnston-4b[1].jpg             [1] The Council of Trent, Readings from Catholic Reformation Readings, HIS309 PDF, page 1. [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid, pp 3-6. [4] Ibid. [5] Ibid, pg.9-10. [6] Photos of Carolus Borromeus Church in Antwerp, from website http://www.trabel.com/antwerp/antwerp-carolus.htm . [7] Photo of Rosary bead, from Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Collection. [8] Sketch of citizens of Louvain, from website http://0251657083.free.fr/divers/johnston-4b[1].jpg . [9] Litany of Lorretto, HIS309 PDF, pp.1-2.; Council of Trent readings, pg.4. [10] Council of Trent readings, pg. 9.