
21. Vatican I and II: Roman Catholicism and Modernity
VATICAN I: Origins Three centuries separated the council of Trent (1563) and the twentieth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church known as Vatican I (1869). Vatican I was a response to a series of perceived threats to Roman Catholic influence and power in Europe. In the years following the Reformation Catholic states were by and large more problematic to deal with that Protestant ones. Catholic France’s interference and practical subjugation of the papacy in the 17th centu