Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent

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Council of Trent

Anonymous · 1545–1563 · Latin

Major work

Creeds, confessions & rules

Catholic

Catholic Reformation

Theology & doctrine

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What it is

The decisions of the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the Catholic Church's answer to the Reformation: decrees on Scripture and tradition, justification, the seven sacraments, and the Mass, together with sweeping reforms of the clergy and the founding of seminaries.

Why it matters

They defined Catholic teaching and practice for four centuries, until the Second Vatican Council.

Reading it

About 300 pages.

Influenced by3

Responds to
Ninety-five Theses · Martin Luther · 1517
Trent's decree on indulgences answers the dispute Luther's Ninety-five Theses began: it condemns anyone who calls indulgences useless or denies the Church's power to grant them, and it orders an end to the 'evil gains' from selling them that the Theses attacked.
Council of Trent, Session XXV (1563), Decree on Indulgences
Responds to
The Babylonian Captivity of the Church · Martin Luther · 1520
Trent answers The Babylonian Captivity, where Luther denied that there are seven sacraments: its canons condemn anyone who says the sacraments were not all instituted by Christ or are more or fewer than seven.
Council of Trent, Session 7, Canons on the Sacraments 1
Responds to
Augsburg Confession · Philip Melanchthon · 1530
Trent's decree on justification answers the Augsburg Confession, condemning the teaching of Augsburg's fourth article that sinners are justified by faith alone.
Council of Trent, Session 6, Decree on Justification and canons 9–12

Influenced2

Built on it
Documents of the Second Vatican Council · Anonymous · 1962–1965
Vatican II's Dei Verbum presents itself as 'following in the footsteps of the Council of Trent'.
Dei Verbum 1
Built on it
Catechism of the Catholic Church · Anonymous · 1992
The Catechism of the Catholic Church cites the Council of Trent throughout, especially on justification and the sacraments.
Catechism §§1987–2029, 1113–1134

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