Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The entire Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Ecumenical Council of Trent, at more than ninety thousand words and over three hundred pages, was an official answer of the Roman Catholic Church to the beliefs of the Protestants as well as an attempt to reform the Church itself. The results of the council are published in the form of twenty-five sessions, each of which either formally started, postponed, or resumed a session or formed decrees and canons approved by the participants. The decrees and canons are the essential part of the work of the council. Decrees state the official understanding of various issues of faith or issues connected with the Roman Catholic Church. Canons specify the situation or cases in which a certain person will be considered anathema—that is, he or she would be considered a heretic if making statements contrary to the canons.

The decrees and canons can be divided into two main groups: those referring to dogmatic issues, that is, to faith of the Church, and those referring to the reform of the Church as an institution. Both were important at the time of the council, but today only the dogmatic decrees are important and relevant. They still present the dogmatic stand of the Roman Catholic Church. Historians agree that the decrees about faith and its source and justification and the decrees about the sacraments that formed an answer to the Protestant challenge were the most important and are excerpted here.

Session the Third

During the third session, the council passed a “Decree Touching the Symbol of Faith.” The decree starts with an explanation of the situation of faith at that moment of history, referring to the dangers of various heresies. Next it states the Creed, which is the shortest and most essential summing up of the Roman Catholic faith, starting with the words “I believe in one God.” The Creed is recited in the same form in the Church today. This decree confirmed the Nicene Creed from 325 CE.

Session the Fourth

The fourth session prepared a decree on canonical scriptures. The decree refers directly to the activity and beliefs of reformers. First, it was decided that the teachings and faith of the Church are not limited to the Bible but include the whole tradition and work of the Church since antiquity. Leaving no doubt about this issue are these words: “Truth and discipline are contained in the written books, and the unwritten traditions which, received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ himself, or from the Apostles themselves, the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down even unto us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand.” Of course, such a stand was questioned by practically all Protestants from Luther to his later followers.

The same decree indicates which books of the Bible are considered canonical. If this list is compared with those compiled by Protestants, small differences can be noted. Having listed all the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, the council decided that only one version of the Bible is acceptable in the public usage of the Church—the Latin Vulgate version. It is worth noticing that the decree omits all earlier versions, as well as the versions of various fragments of the Bible in the original languages in which they were written, leaving but one for the public use of the Church. The indication that it was the Latin Vulgate edition meant that Latin retained its position as the official language of the Church and of all its ceremonies.

Furthermore, the same decree states that no one is allowed to read and interpret the Bible on his own if those interpretations remain contrary to the interpretation of the Church. Printers are forbidden to print the Bible without the proper permission from Church authorities. For the time being nothing was stated about the private use of the Bible, in particular translations into vernacular languages. It was not until 1559 and 1564 that these translations of the Bible were put on the Church’s index of forbidden books.

Session the Fifth

The fifth session produced a decree on original sin. The issue was important, as it touched on changes proposed by Martin Luther and other Protestants, who claimed that through original sin Adam and his posterity became sinful and thus their free will could only cause them to sin. The council states that indeed people are infected by Adam’s original sin, even newborn babies, who had no chance to sin, yet people may be and should be redeemed through baptism. Future sinning may be redeemed thanks to the sacrifice of Christ.

Session the Sixth

During the sixth session, the council passed an essential decree—the one on justification—that was the consequence of the council’s teaching about original sin. In this decree the council defines justification and walks the reader through the psychological process of justification. Unlike Protestants, the council maintains that under certain conditions, through Christ’s sacrifice, and thanks to God’s grace, justification is possible. The council stresses, though, that faith alone is not enough to acquire it and there is need for the sacraments. More specifically, chapters 1–9 stress the incapacity of every person to save him- or herself, at the same time confirming the need for cooperation of free will in order to start a new life. Baptism is required for justification. The next four chapters stress the role of obedience to the Ten Commandments in justification, thus denying predestination. Finally, the last three chapters state that grace is forfeited by all grievous sins and must be recovered through the sacrament of penance. Salvation will come as both a reward and a gift of God through the sacrifice of Christ.

Session the Seventh

In the next session (the seventh), the council presented its teaching on the sacraments in thirteen canons. The first canon lists seven sacraments, which are and will be considered as such by the council and therefore by the Church. The following twelve canons outline the Church’s teachings on the sacraments’ character. In particular, the council says that they are necessary for salvation. Further, three of the sacraments—baptism, matrimony, and holy orders—may be given only once, for they leave an indelible mark on the soul and cannot be repeated. These teachings about sacraments grow out of the two previous sessions about the original sin and justification, but at the same time they are an answer to Protestants, who recognized only baptism and the Eucharist, removing all others from their churches. The Church rejected Protestants’ views and retained all sacraments as instituted by Christ.

Session the Thirteenth

The next session’s work reprinted here is the thirteenth, which produced a decree on the sacrament of the Eucharist. Once again it was a theological issue undertaken by the council in reply to Protestant teachings. The council decidedly stated that there is real presence of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist and that transubstantiation was confirmed. In other words, contrary to Luther and his followers, the Church maintains that the Eucharist is an offering, during which bread and wine are changed into Christ’s blood and flesh.

Session the Twenty-second

Even though some time passed between various sessions, there was continuity in the approved decrees and canons. During the twenty-second session, the council approved the doctrine of the Holy Mass as a sacrifice. It is directly connected with the understanding of the Eucharist and confirms that the Holy Mass is understood as a sacrifice, with Christ’s sacrifice being repeated at the altar. The following chapters refer to specific issues connected with this sacrifice.

Session the Twenty-fifth

The final session—the twenty-fifth—put forward decrees and decisions referring to the changes instituted by Protestants. These are simple, doctrinal statements on purgatory, relics and their cult, the question of saints and their images, and finally indulgences and their sale. Thus the issue that prompted Luther to speak up in 1517 finds its solution here, with the sale of indulgences being prohibited. At the very end, the council confirmed the decision on the preparation of a list of prohibited books, which were considered heretical and forbidden.