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This week in Christian history: Henry IV gets absolution after standing barefoot in snow; Pope affirms Council of Trent

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Twitter

Pope Pius IV issues papal bull Benedictus Deus – Jan. 26, 1564

Pope Pius IV (1499-1565), the head of the Roman Catholic Church who championed the Counter-Reformation and reconvened the Council of Trent.
Pope Pius IV (1499-1565), the head of the Roman Catholic Church who championed the Counter-Reformation and reconvened the Council of Trent. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when Pope Pius IV issued a papal bull titled "Benedictus Deus" that affirmed the decisions at the Council of Trent, which sought to rebut the Protestant Reformation.

The Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563, issued decrees affirming various teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and rejecting Protestant ideas such as salvation through faith alone.

With the bull, wrote historian William Andrew San Pedro, Pius IV “ratified all the decrees of the council and declared them as binding upon all Catholics under pain of excommunication.”

“Pius continued the council’s mission by producing a catechism to teach the decrees of the council and by beginning the process of codifying the Catholic liturgical books,” San Pedro added.

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