The Reform Of The Episcopacy At The Council Of Trent

The Council of Trent,one of the most important historical events in the era of Early Modern Europe,was the nineteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church.Its purposes consisted in protecting the orthodox faith of the Church and reforming the Church.This thesis,in the context of the reform of the episcopacy at the Council of Trent,explores some of the problems the Roman Catholic Church had to encountered.The thesis consists of five parts including the introduction,three chapters and the conclusion.The introduction comprises two points.It is by showing the extremely different roles the Council of Trent played in the different historical paradigms that the first point is going to depict the development of the historiography.And the second point is related to the purpose of the thesis and the approach to the research.The historical background of the Council of Trent is displayed by two parts of the first chapter,which are the abuses of the system of the Church and the struggle for convening the Council.The second chapter focuses on the three vital texts,which are De officio episcopi by Contarini,Consilium de emendanda ecclesia and the thoughts of the diocesan reform originated from three experienced bishops.The third chapter mainly discusses the reform of the episcopacy at the Council of Trent,and points out that the leitmotif of the reform of the bishops at the Council was to transform bishops from collectors of benefices into pastors of souls.The conclusion raises the point that the Council of Trent not only conveyed,to some extent, an impression of"the Counter Reformation",but also was episcopal and pastoral council which emphasized the ministries of the pastors.