Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects Eighteenth-Century Forerunners of Vatican II: Early Modern Catholic Reform and the Synod of Pistoia Shaun London Blanchard Marquette University Recommended Citation Blanchard, Shaun London, "Eighteenth-Century Forerunners of Vatican II: Early Modern Catholic Reform and the Synod of Pistoia" (2018). Dissertations (2009 -). 774. https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/774 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FORERUNNERS OF VATICAN II: EARLY MODERN CATHOLIC REFORM AND THE SYNOD OF PISTOIA by Shaun L. Blanchard, B.A., MSt. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2018 ABSTRACT EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FORERUNNERS OF VATICAN II: EARLY MODERN CATHOLIC REFORM AND THE SYNOD OF PISTOIA Shaun L. Blanchard Marquette University, 2018 This dissertation sheds further light on the nature of church reform and the roots of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) through a study of eighteenth-century Catholic reformers who anticipated Vatican II. The most striking of these examples is the Synod of Pistoia (1786), the high-water mark of “late Jansenism.” Most of the reforms of the Synod were harshly condemned by Pope Pius VI in the Bull Auctorem fidei (1794), and late Jansenism was totally discredited in the increasingly ultramontane nineteenth-century Catholic Church. Nevertheless, many of the reforms implicit or explicit in the Pistoian agenda – such as an exaltation of the role of bishops, an emphasis on infallibility as a gift to the entire church, religious liberty, a simpler and more comprehensible liturgy that incorporates the vernacular, and the encouragement of lay Bible reading and Christocentric devotions – were officially promulgated at Vatican II. The first chapter describes the nature of Vatican II reform as ressourcement, aggiornamento, and the development of doctrine. The “hermeneutic of reform,” proposed by Pope Benedict XVI and approved of by John O’Malley, is put forward as a way past the dead-end of “continuity” and “discontinuity” debates. Chapter two pushes back the story of the roots of Vatican II to the eighteenth century, in which a variety of reform movements, including the Catholic Enlightenment, attempted ressourcement and aggiornamento. The next two chapters investigate the context and reforms enacted by Bishop Scipione de’Ricci (1741–1810) and the Synod of Pistoia, paying special attention to their parallels with Vatican II, and arguing that some of these connections are deeper than mere surface-level affinity. Chapter five considers the reception of Pistoia, shows why these reforms failed, and uses the criteria of Yves Congar to judge them as “true” or “false” reform. The final chapter proves that the Synod was a “ghost” present at the Council. The council fathers struggled with, and ultimately enacted, many of the same ideas. This study complexifies the story of the roots of the Council, the nature of Catholic reform, and the manner in which the contemporary church is continuous and discontinuous with the past. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Shaun L. Blanchard I have been fascinated with the Second Vatican Council since hearing older people argue about quite it vehemently. I am grateful that, while I was an undergrad at North Carolina, Prof. Yaakov Ariel encouraged me in my study of Vatican II and modern Catholicism. During masters work at Oxford, I found welcoming and sympathetic mentors in Prof. Johannes Zachhuber and Fr. Philip Endean, SJ. They encouraged and challenged me as I delved into the Jacques Dupuis controversy, Dominus Iesus, and conciliar interpretation. To the Dominicans at Blackfriars I owe a debt of gratitude. The year I spent at Blackfriars was certainly the most formative of my life. While at Marquette University, I explored Dignitatis humanae with Dr. Pat Carey, Lumen gentium and the nouvelle théologie with Dr. Susan Wood, and the hermeneutics of Vatican II with Fr. Joseph Mueller, SJ. Fr. Mueller’s meticulous engagement with my dissertation, especially the Acts of Vatican II and of Pistoia, has been invaluable. His passionate and selfless dedication to teaching represents the best of the Jesuit Order. Dr. Mickey Mattox has been a constant support and encouragement, and I am grateful to him for also examining this dissertation. Reading Lodovico Muratori’s Della regolata devozione dei cristiani (1747) with Prof. Ulrich Lehner was a pivotal moment. Muratori seemed to have all of the qualities I admired in twentieth-century ressourcement figures. This set me on a path, accompanied at every step by Dr. Lehner and his groundbreaking historical work, of pushing back the story of the Council into the eighteenth century. Dr. Lehner’s encouragement, constant contact, and total availability turned an awfully difficult task into an enormous pleasure. The generosity of the Smith Family Fellowship revolutionized this project. In the 2016–17 academic year and again in 2017–18, I was able to hold in my hands the sources of eighteenth-century Catholic reform. I travelled around the UK to investigate the English Cisalpine movement and their connections with continental Catholic reform. I was hosted by Ushaw College and Durham University, and Prof. Paul Murray, Prof. Lewis Ayres, and Dr. James Kelly made Ann-Marie and me feel like colleagues and friends. This work in the UK aided my dissertation and has also produced several articles and conference presentations. I am confident it has provided the foundation for my second monograph. I also travelled to Germany to research episcopalism in the Trier archives. Profs. Bernhard and Hannah Schneider were gracious hosts and have become dear friends. I also examined the correspondence of Archbishop John Carroll in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and this work has resulted in a book chapter and a second article under review. ii Most importantly, the Smith Fellowship allowed me to travel to Italy. I went to Modena, where I visited the parish and house of Lodovico Muratori. I attended Mass in the Church of San Benedetto in Pistoia, which was once named San Leopoldo, and where Scipione de’Ricci and 250 other clerics gathered for the famous synod of 1786 and issued a startling challenge to the papacy and the status quo. I stood at de’Ricci’s grave in his family villa in Rignana (near Greve in Chianti) and examined prints and paintings which the proprietor inherited. I am grateful to the custodians of these sites for their generosity, openness, and patience with my Italian. Most importantly, the Smith Fellowship allowed me to spend a month in the State Archives in Florence and Vatican Secret Archives in Rome, examining the writings of de’Ricci, of the Synod, and of the committee of cardinals and bishops appointed by Pope Pius VI to investigate the Synod. This archival work has allowed my dissertation to make an original contribution to English-speaking scholarship. I am grateful to all the library staff and archivists who aided me in the US and abroad. My parents, John and Dawn, imparted to me a love of learning and of the university. Most importantly, they have been been relentlessly encouraging about my decision to become an academic. I thank also my siblings and their spouses and children – Janel, Nick, Madeleine, and Fiona, Gabriel and Sarah – for their love, good humor, and kindness. I would be remiss not to thank the many friends and mentors who were involved in some way in my project who have not yet been mentioned: Prof. Ormond Rush, Eric DeMeuse, Prof. Matt Gaetano, Luke Togni, Prof. Matthew Levering, Prof. Gavin D’Costa, Fr. Matt Olver, Fr. Joseph Chinnici, Marianna Woolwine, Patricia Psuik, Prof. Gemma Simmonds, Gale Prusinski, Tom Marek, David Geddes, Jakob Rinderknecht, Prof. Alec Ryrie, Julia and Andrew Meszaros, and every other conversation partner or reader of his manuscript. I thank Msgr. John Wall for introducing me, years ago, to Vatican II through regaling me with his stories from his days at the North American College in the early 1960s. My wife, Ann-Marie, has been my most ardent supporter and my best friend. To her I dedicate this work. Finally, I give thanks to the Triune God and to my Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi? iii A Note on Archival Sources The most important collection of archival sources for the study of Riccian reform and the Synod of Pistoia are in the Archivio di Stato in Florence (ASF). The Carte Ricci collection includes 109 folders, full of mostly unpublished material. Almost all of Bishop Scipione de’Ricci’s letters to Grand Duke Peter Leopold have been published in the three-volume work cited below (Lettere). The Carte Ricci also contains drafts of the Synod documents and reports of the proceedings, numerous unpublished letters of de’Ricci (a great number transcribed in folders 45–54), and collections of his homilies and pastoral letters. A second pivotal collection of sources is in the Archivio Segreto Vaticano (ASV). The collection Sinodo di Pistoia has 48 folders of material, much of which concerns the reports of the various committees established by Pope Pius VI to investigate the Synod. Pietro Stella has published some of the most important documents in the ASV collection in Il Giansenismo in Italia II/I: La bolla Auctorem Fidei (1794) nella storia dell’Ultramontanismo; Saggio introduttivo e documenti (Rome: Libreria Ateneo Salesiano, 1995). On page xv–xvi, Stella provides an inventory of these 48 folders. I have consulted a great deal of the material relevant to this study in both archives. Whenever I cite materials from the Carte Ricci (ASF) or Sinodo di Pistoia (ASV) collections that have been published, I will cite the published version for the convenience of the reader. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................