A famous ditty attributed to Pope Sixtus IV and written by Martialis Mela, “In hoc ex ore, et exhibita respondeat ac non.” In English this reads as follows: “In which the council of Trent assembled in Rome under the pontificate of popes previously appointed, and under the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor, under the law of the twenty-first article of the union, declared that the above-mentioned union must be in concurrence with the decrees of the pontiffs of other popes.” In both languages, the verb is used, which means “in accordance with.” Hence, in this famous ditty the first person singular is “in accordance with.”
To condemn this, and to defend the Roman Catholic Church against errors that it considers erroneous, papal infallibility must be proven. However, it is not this which is condemned; rather the accusation is that the papacy is not infallible because a council of twelve refused to acknowledge its own infallibility and declare it true. This brings up another problem that is related to the infallible character of the Pope. Because the popes, through their infallible authority and jurisdiction, can anathematize sins committed by their predecessors and can anathematize new teachings that contradict previous papal teaching, this would mean that the reformed teaching of the papacy is false.
Pope Sixtus IV had made some errors concerning the institution of the mass. For instance, he tolerated the practice of giving three indulgences for the dead. This, along with other errors concerning the ordaining of women and mixed marriages, were pointed out by some popes to be directly connected with the decline of the papacy. Therefore it was necessary to set up a separate Vatican Council, which condemned these errors and set up a framework for a reformed church.
When you read between the lines, it becomes clear that there were a number of issues that were not covered by the reforms of the papacy. The reformed churches, however, did not reject all the teachings of the popes. Instead, they acknowledged most of them but modified them, which is why we have the reformed Confessions and the Roman Catholic Church’s dogmatic teachings on grace. It is these later additions to the faith that we call Vaticanism. The sixteenth century marks the beginning of the decline of the papacy, which had begun with the death of popes Innocent III and Innocent V.
In the Spotlight
In the sixteenth century there was theologia generalis, which explained theologies of religion and theology. Then came the works of composers who were known as madrigals. Among these were Gioachino da Scecca, Lorenzo Alighieri, and Nicholas Renan. Gioachino da Scecca composed the song “ciespa e charitracane,” which is the first mention of hymns to praise God. Other works by this Italian maestro include “Soravanti amorosa” and “Non chroianorum.”
In the late thirteenth century came the song “Santeram gignemme.” This particular artist included hymns to praise God and opera music to express his interpretation of love. The work “Santeram gignemme” is similar to the works of Johannes Brahms and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Thus, the example of which composer responded to the papal reform can be compared to the case of the rise of the great Italian maestro Giorgio da Scecca from the early twelfth century to the fourteenth century with exemplary fashion in music, which remains unsurpassed even today.