PISTOIA, SYNOD OF

This article appears in Volume V21, Page 654 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PIG-POL

PISTOIA, SYNOD OF , a diocesan synod held in 1786 under the presidency of Scipione de' Ricci (17411810), bishop of Pistoia, and the patronage of

Leopold

LEOPOLD (M.H. Ger. Liupolt; O.H. Ger. Liupald, from hut, Mod. Ger. Leute, " people," and paid, " bold," i.e. " bold for the people ")

, grand-duke of Tuscany, with a view to preparing the ground for a national council and a reform of the Tuscan Church. On the 26th of January the grand-duke issued a circular

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

to the Tuscan bishops suggesting certain reforms, especially in the matter of the restoration of the authority of diocesan synods, the purging of the missals and breviaries of legends, the assertion of episcopal as against papal authority, the curtailing of the privileges of the monastic orders, and the better education of the clergy.
In spite of the hostile attitude of the great majority of the bishops, Bishop de' Ricci issued on the 31st of July a summons to a diocesan synod, which was solemnly opened on the 18th of September. It was attended by 233 beneficed secular and 13 regular priests, and decided with

practical

PRACTICAL

unanimity on a

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of decrees which, had it been possible to carry them into effect, would have involved a drastic reform of the Church on the lines advocated by " Febronius " (see FEBRONIANISM).
The first decree (Decretum de fide et ecclesia) declared that the Catholic Church has no right to introduce new dogmas, but only to preserve in its

original

ORIGINAL

purity the faith once delivered by Christ to His apostles, and is infallible only so tar as it conforms to Holy Scripture and true tradition; the Church, moreover is a purely spiritual

body

BODY

and has no authority in things secular. Other decrees denounced the abuse of indulgences, of festivals of saints, and of processions and suggested reforms; others again enjoined the closing of shops on Sunday during divine service, the issue of service-books with parallel translations in the vernacular, and recommended the abolition of all monastic orders except that of St Benedict, the rules of which were to be brought into harmony with modern ideas; nuns were to be forbidden to take the vows before the age of 40. The last decree proposed the convocation of a national council.
These decrees were issued together with a

pastoral

PASTORAL (from Lat. pastor, a shepherd)

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

of Bishop de' Ricci, and were warmly approved by the grand-duke, at whose instance a national synod of the Tuscan bishops met at Florence on the 23rd of April 1787. The temper of this assembly was, however, wholly different. The bishops refused to allow a voice to any not of their own order, and in the end the decrees of Pistoia were supported by a minority of only three. They were finally condemned at Rome by the

bull

Auctorem fidei of the 28th of August 1794. De' Ricci, deprived of the personal support of the grand-duke (now the emperor

Leopold

LEOPOLD (M.H. Ger. Liupolt; O.H. Ger. Liupald, from hut, Mod. Ger. Leute, " people," and paid, " bold," i.e. " bold for the people ")

I.), exposed to pressure from Rome, and threatened with mob violence as a suspected destroyer of holy relics, resigned his see in 1791, and lived in Florence as a private

gentleman

GENTLEMAN (from Lat. gentilis, " belonging to a race or gens," and " man "; Fr. gentilhomme, Span. gentil hombre, Ital. gentil huomo, in its
original
- ORIGINAL
and strict signification, a term denoting a man of good family, the Lat. generosus (its invariable transl

until his death in 181o. In May 1805, on the return of Pope Pius VII. from Paris, he had signed an act of submission to the papal decision of 1794.
De' Ricci's own memoirs, Memorie di Scipione de' Ricci, vescovo di Prato e Pistoia, edited by Antonio Galli, were published at Florence in 2 vols. in 1865. Besides this his letters to Antonio Marini were published by Cesare Guasti at Prato in 1857; these were promptly put on the Index. See also De Potter, Vie de Scipion de' Ricci (3 vols., Brussels, 1825), based on a MS. life and a MS. account of the synod placed on the Index in 1823. There are many documents in Zobi, Storia civile della Toscana, vols. ii. and iii. (Florence, 1856). The acts of the synod of Pistoia were published in Italian and Latin at Pavia in 1788.

End of Article: PISTOIA, SYNOD OF

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/PIG_POL/PISTOIA_SYNOD_OF.html">
PISTOIA, SYNOD OF
</a>

(Previous)
PISTOIA

(Next)
PISTOL

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email