The Roman Catholic Church During The Renaissance Era

During the Renaissance era, three main ideals were popular. Humanism, individualism, and secularism all influenced the Roman Catholic Church and caused the priests to change from pious to profane. This called for a set of Reformers, from both inside and outside the clergy. The elaborate, ornate chalice on the left was used by a Roman Catholic priest in the rites of Mass, whereas the simple, unassuming cup on the right was used by the very same priest to celebrate the Lord's Supper after he became a follower of Luther. The sharp contrast between the two vessels in question is symbolic of the profound disconnect between the Roman Catholic Church and the original teachings of Christ in the eyes of the Protestant movement during the 16th Century.

Whereas the former represents an adulterated theology, heretical and reprehensible accretions in practice, and the corruption and decadence of the Church, the latter represents a return to the pristine creed of original Christianity, the simplicity of the rights and practices taught by Christ, and the impeccable moral character and austerity embodied by him and his disciples.

It is these three facets (theology, practice, and integrity) which will be addressed here.

To begin, the first chalice represents the adulterated theology of the Roman Catholic Church. During the 16th century, the Catholic Church was engaged in corruption. For instance, the clerics were becoming immoral due to their breaking the seal of celibacy. Celibacy was the state of abstaining from marriage or certain relationships for the Catholic priests. Priests would frequently keep mistresses or concubines on the side of their work. The most condemned abuse of the Church was the sale of indulgences by the priests. Indulgences permitted people to buy freedom from purgatory. They were documents sold in order to bring remission of punishment due to sins. Another common corruption that existed in the Church was simony. Simony is the act of selling of positions in the Church. The Church had permitted important ecclesiastical posts to be sold to the highest bidders and had left residency requirements in the religious community unenforced. A last abuse of the Church is nepotism. Nepotism is the act of giving jobs to family members instead of

giving it to more qualified workers. This was a common problem where a well-credentialed and dedicated worker was needed, but was not employed in the clergy. As for nepotism, church officials would hire unqualified family members for jobs, where a real, well-trained professional was needed. The reason corruption was detrimental to the Church was because the local people would have a lack of trust in the clergy.

As stated before, in acts of simony, priests hired substitutes who lived elsewhere and had neither first-hand knowledge of nor much sympathy with local communities. This is why people opposed the act of simony greatly and finally condemned it. The breaking of celibacy was detrimental to the Church because Catholics had the conviction that the clergy could bestow grace upon whoever he pleases and that it was necessary that they guide the laypeople to heaven. The clergy was also becoming very ignorant because a common occurrence was the illiteracy rate among priests and preachers. During sermons, verses were fabricated to please the congregants By the same token of corruption and ignorance was the secularization of the Church. The Church was becoming secular because they were focusing on worldly matters. For example, the chalice depicted on the left was very ornate. This illustrated the life of the average Catholic priest, decorated. Priests focused on making or taking money for their own personal needs. Together with the sale of indulgences, the priests would thieve money from

the donations and collect tithes from the public. Money secured by the stated methods were used for various activities. Some of which are gambling and the building of personal property. Many groups prospered and suffered as a result the secularization of the Church. Besides the steady flow of vast sums of money into the hands of church officials, merchants, laborers, and bankers gained wealth through the use of money obtained from the selling of indulgences. On the other hand, state and national leaders, such as the German princes, saw their coffers regularly depleted as funds channeled south to Rome. Enticed by the idea of a quicker avenue to heaven, the poor were encouraged to spend money on a religious luxury they could not afford. This demonstrated the adulterated theology and practices of the Roman Catholic Church because laypeople, both wealthy and poor started to get the short end of the stick in regards to economic stability. Furthermore, the Church was becoming less and less moral. As a result of the decrease in morality of the priests, the morality of the people who lost trust in them decreased as well. This created a lack of conviction in the clergy and its authority, causing anti-Church dialogue. This expresses the debased theology and practices of the Roman Catholic Church because the Church was changing their focal point from the practices of Christ to that of their own desires. To summarize, while indulgences were a key focus of reformers during this time, many other questionable practices preceded it. For many years, clerical immorality such as the neglect of celibacy, drunkenness,and gambling, led people to question the moral authority of the church. Other questionable administrative practices included simony, nepotism, and pluralism. All of these practices had the cumulative effect of diminishing the respect for and authority of the Catholic Church. These practices provided an avenue for the beginning of the Protestant Reformation as idealized by Martin Luther.