Anti-modernism

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Antimodernism describes a trend within the Catholic Church in the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, which - based on the decrees of Pius IX. (Pope from 1846 to 1878) - turned against the social and political reforms and upheavals of modernity and liberalism and fought their influence in church and theology , which later was called modernism by its representatives .

For example, the Syllabus errorum of 1864, in its enumeration of contested errors, lists not only ideas that, from today's point of view, must be considered absurd fads of the 19th century, but also a number of ideas such as religious freedom that have progressed since the Enlightenment and the French Revolution were realized, today belong to the common good of (western) civilization and are included in the declaration of human rights of the United Nations of 1948.

Anti-modernism went hand in hand with ultramontanism . This is the name given to a political stance of Catholicism in German-speaking countries and the Netherlands , which was based exclusively on instructions from the papal curia , that is, from what is seen from there “beyond the mountains” (Latin ultra montes - meaning the Alps ) Vatican . In many other countries, too, the respective clergy (e.g. bishops, archbishops and bodies made up of them) had close ties to the Vatican.

After a certain change of course under Pope Leo XIII. (Pope from 1878 to 1903), who devoted himself to the social question for the first time and established the teaching tradition of Catholic social teaching with his encyclical Rerum Novarum from 1891 , established the pontificate of Pius X (1903 to 1914), during which the movements of modernism and Americanism gained in importance, at the same time it represented the climax of anti-modernist tendencies in the Catholic Church, above all through the obligation of all priests to take the so-called anti - modernist oath of September 1, 1910, which expressly obliged them, which is contained in the Syllabus errorum (list of errors ) reject complained errors.

Under Pope Benedict XV. (Pontificate 1914–1922), in view of the threats from outside ( World War I , October Revolution , Mexican Revolution, etc.), the internal church modernism dispute eased for the Catholic Church. Even in the following pontificate there were hardly any signs of a continuation of the modernism dispute, but the problems that remained unsolved in principle influenced the development of the Catholic Church (and above all: after) the Second Vatican Council (after which, among other things, the " Anti-modernist oath "was abolished).

Contrast to the Protestant Church

In his lectures on the philosophy of history in 1822/23, the philosopher Hegel stylized Martin Luther's Reformation as the birth of the modern age. The essential content of the Reformation is the sentence "Man is determined by himself to be free". It was a critical reaction to that "belief in miracles of the most absurd and ridiculous kind" that the Catholic Church promoted with the cult of saints, pilgrimages and indulgences . Hegel's view was shared by many master thinkers, including Protestants, around 1800. They celebrated Luther, the solitary monk and professor struggling for God's grace, as a national freedom hero who won the right to freedom of conscience for the Germans who were subjugated by the papal church. Luther was considered to be the first modern person who left the dark Middle Ages behind and lit the bright light of faith of freedom.

“Roman Catholic historians adopted this interpretation negatively. They demonized the reformer as the original revolutionary of modernity who, in his sinful revolt against papal authority, brought an anarchic principle, the immediacy of every pious individual to God, into the world, and thus undermined all structures of order. Here as there, the interpretation of the Reformation was shaped by the political goals of the interpreter. "

- Friedrich Wilhelm Graf

But also in Protestantism at the end of the 19th century, in view of historical criticism, concern about the binding nature of the Bible and Confession arose and found influential representatives in the positive church direction.

Friedrich Wilhelm Graf pointed out in 2009 that the Reformation brought about a pluralization of the church and brought Christian freedom. One can now argue about whether, as von Hegel once claimed, the Reformation “libertas Christiana” also strengthened political freedom in the long term.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Friedrich Wilhelm Graf : Essay. In: Die Zeit , No. 1/2010; to the book: Thomas Kaufmann : History of the Reformation . 2009