A
memorable council had been assembled at Trent on the 15th of January,
1562. Ferdinand urged the council to exhort the pope to examine if there
was not room for some reform in his own person, state or court.
"Because," said he, "the only true method to obtain authority for the
reformation of others, is to begin by amending oneself." He commented
upon the manifest impropriety of scandalous indulgences: of selling the
sacred offices of the Church to the highest bidder, regardless of
character; of extorting fees for the administration of the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper; of offering prayers and performing the services of
public devotion in a language which the people could not understand; and
other similar and most palpable abuses. Even the kings of France and
Spain united with the emperor in these remonstrances.
It is difficult now to conceive of the astonishment and indignation with
which the pope and his adherents received these very reasonable
suggestions, coming not from the Protestants but from the most staunch
advocates of the papacy. The see of Rome, corrupt to its very core,
would yield nothing. The more senseless and abominable any of its
corruptions were, the more tenaciously did pope and cardinals cling to
them.
Pages:
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256