Catholic Conciliarism and the Protestant Reformation

Thanks to a mixed heritage, the catholic Christian tradition has always been pluriform in its notions of authority. During the Western Schism of 1378-1418, conflict between two types of authority, papalist and conciliarist, reached a fever pitch. The battle between these views consumed the 15th century and provided ecclesiological preparation for the Protestant reformation in the 16th. Throughout the Reformation and into the 17th century Protestants invoked conciliarist principles against the papacy’s absolute monarchy. Standing on catholic conciliarism, the Reformers worked for lawful, biblical reform of the Church. Considering this essential backdrop leads us to better appreciate our heritage as Protestants.