A Pathway Scattered with Stumbling Blocks: The Theology of the Episcopate and the Obligation of Residence at the Council of Trent

Résumé En

The debates on the sacrament of Holy Orders, which took place during the third and final period of the Council of Trent, in 1562-1563, were undoubtedly the most bitter in the history of this assembly. Much more than the presbyterate, it was the episcopate that was at the heart of these debates: irreconcilable positions were expressed on its theological and canonical definition. The episcopate was also the main subject of the reform decrees, with a question that ran through almost the entire council, despite its fragmented history: the obligation of residence, which was also the subject of such passionate discussions that it also contributed to blocking the council for several months.Although well known to specialised historians, the eventful course of the Council of Trent is not really part of the common culture of theologians. This is why this contribution insists first of all on the fragility and precariousness of this council, closely dependent on the political and military history of Europe in the middle of the 16th century. The difficulties in drawing up the decrees and their ultimately partial nature are all the more apparent. We can then see that the problem of the residence of pastors - especially bishops - is posed very early in the history of the Council, and that it is first of all through disciplinary means that the priestly ministry (episcopal above all, presbyteral to a lesser extent) is thematised. During the third and last period of the Council's history, however, the problem of residence was theologised, so to speak, and intimately linked to the extremely difficult elaboration of the decree on the sacrament of Holy Orders, where the debates were centred on the episcopate, in particular on its relations with the sovereign pontiff. The resolution of the deadlock, for which Giovanni Morone, the cardinal-legate, deserves much of the credit, bypassed the most serious problems, but did not fail to propose some strong formulas whose vigour, without literally taking up the terms or expressions held by the most resolute supporters of an "episcopalist" reform, nevertheless made it possible to obtain their agreement.