Crkvene unije tijekom vladavine Leopolda I. i Josipa I. (1657.-1711.): ideje, planovi i dosezi
Ecclesiastical Unions during the Reigns of Leopold I and Joseph I (1657-1711): Ideas, Plans, and Achievements

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to analyze the discussions around the possible reunion of the Protestant churches with the Roman Catholic Church in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and in Hungary, initiated by the Franciscan Cristóbal Rojas y Spinoli as a representative of the court in Vienna, as well as the achievements of the ecclesiastical union between Orthodox Christians and the Roman Catholic Church in the territory of Upper Hungary, Transylvania, and the Croatian-Slavonian Military March during the reigns of Leopold I and Joseph I. It is emphasized that the Protestant churches considered the major obstacles to their reunion with the Roman Catholic Church to be the papal primacy and their excommunication at the Council of Trent, as well as the accusations of heresy. Thereby the ideas of Irenicist theologians had a considerable impact during the second part of the 17th century. They sought to overcome the schism by underlining the common Christian foundations, leaving the debates on dogmatic issues for some future times. Attempts at achieving a reunion between the Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church were also supported by the Catholic converts around Johann von Schönborn, prince elector and the archbishop of Mainz. The Franciscan Spinola and his collocutor on the Evangelical side, theologian Gerard Wolter Molanus, were of the opinion that the Catholic-Protestant union should be achieved through an ecumenical council, but while Spinola planned to reach an agreement with the Protestants and bring them back under the wing of the Roman Catholic Church before the general church council, in which they could then partake as full church members, Molanus argued that the reunion must be discussed at the very council, where both sides would participate as equal parties. Both acted as the representatives of secular rulers and saw the reunion talks as an issue of cabinet policy and secret diplomacy. They considered it acceptable that their political leaders should choose the theologians who would take part in the negotiations, and they saw their churches as institutions of the early modern absolutist state governed by secular rulers. Spinola’s negotiations with the Hungarian Protestants failed because the Protestant estates managed to secure their legal position and ensure free confession of their faith, which is why they abandoned the idea of negotiating about the reunion with the Roman Catholic Church. The negotiations also failed because of the crucial differences in the understanding of the sacraments, the Mass, and the priestly office, as well as owing to the lack of support by the parties involved: for example, the Roman curia did not support any reunion talks that it had not initiated itself, while the Hungarian Catholic hierarchy blocked or ignored them.

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