Congregatio de Auxiliis
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The Congregatio de Auxiliis (Latin for "Congregation on help (by Divine Grace)") was a commission established by
Context of the dispute
The principal question, giving its name to the whole dispute, concerned the help (no) afforded by
The Dominicans solved the difficulty by their theory of
Beginning of the controversy
The controversy is usually considered to have begun in the year 1581, when the Jesuit Prudencio de Montemayor defended certain theses on grace that had been vigorously attacked by the Dominican
At Louvain and the
The discussion was kept up on both sides for a year longer, until the
Publication of Molina's work
In 1588 the Spanish Jesuit
The debates continued for five years and in 1594 became public and turbulent at
The pope then asked for an expression of opinion from various universities and distinguished theologians of Spain. Between 1594 and 1597, twelve reports were submitted; by the three universities of Salamanca, Alcalà and Sigüenza; by the bishops of Coria, Segovia, Plasencia, Cartagena and Mondoñedo; by Serra, Miguel Salon (Augustinian Friar), Castro (Canon of Toledo), and Luis Coloma, Prior of the Augustinians at Valladolid. There were also forwarded to Rome some statements in explanation and defense of the Jesuit and of the Dominican theories. Clement VIII appointed a commission under the presidency of Cardinals Madrucci (Secretary of the Inquisition) and Aragone, which began its labours on 2 January 1598 and on 19 March handed in the result condemning Molina's book. Displeased at their haste in treating a question of such importance, the Pope ordered them to go over the work again, keeping in view the documents sent from Spain.
Though the examination of these would have required several years, the commission reported again in November and insisted on the condemnation of Molina. Thereupon Clement VIII ordered the generals of the Dominicans and the Jesuits, respectively, to appear with some of their theologians before the commission, explain their doctrines, and settle their differences. In obedience to this command, both generals began (22 February 1599) before the commission a series of conferences, which lasted through that year.
Conclusion
Clement VIII died on 5 March 1605, and, after the brief reign of
So, after twenty years of public and private discussion, and eighty-five conferences in the presence of the popes, the question was not solved but an end was put to the disputes. The pope's decree communicated on 5 September 1607 to both Dominicans and Jesuits allowed each party to defend its own doctrine, enjoined each from censoring or condemning the opposite opinion, and commanded them to await, as loyal sons of the Church, the final decision of the Apostolic See. That decision, however, was not reached, and both orders, consequently, could maintain their respective theories, just as any other theological opinion is held. The long controversy aroused considerable feeling, and the pope, aiming at the restoration of peace and charity between the religious orders, forbade by a decree of the Inquisition (1 December 1611) the publication of any book concerning efficacious grace until further action by the Holy See. The prohibition remained in force during the greater part of the seventeenth century, although it was widely circumvented by the means of explicit commentaries of Thomas Aquinas. One of those who essayed a novel solution to the problem was Bernard Lonergan, SJ, who interpreted Summa Theologiae 1-2, q. 111, a. 2, and took a distance from both the Molinist and the Banezian positions.[3]
See also
References
- ^ Schuceman, Controversiarum de divinae gratiae liberique arbitrii concordia initia et progressos, Freiburg, 1881
- ^ Eunan McDonnell, The Concept of Freedom in the Writings of St. Francis de Sales (Peter Lang, 2009) 61. See F. de Sales, Lettre CDXVII: A Monseigneur Pierre-François Costa, Évêque de Savone, Nonce Apostolique à Turin, OEA XIII:326-328. Cf. also André Ravier, Francois de Sales. Un sage et un saint, 6th ed. [Nouvelle Cité, Domaine d'Arny, 2009] 42, who specifies that Francis, while recommending a moratorium on the debate, himself tended to a Molinist position. The position rejected by the saint was, according to Lajeunie, not that of St Thomas but that of one of his interpreters, Henri de Gand.
- ^ Cf. Bernard Lonergan, Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan, vol. 1 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000).
Sources
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Congregatio de Auxiliis". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Ulrich L. Lehner (ed.), Die scholastische Theologie im Zeitalter der Gnadenstreitigkeiten (monograph series, first volume: 2007) [1]
Bibliography
- Hyacinthe Serry, Historiae Congregationum de Auxiliis (Leuven, 1699 - published anonymously, a still classical work, written by a Dominican)
- Bernard Lonergan. Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of St Thomas Aquinas. Ed. Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan vol. 1 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000).
- Robert J. Matava. Divine Causality and Human Free Choice. Domingo Báñez, Physical Premotion and the Controversy De Auxiliis Revisited. (Leiden: Brill, 2016).