Roman Catholic Conservatism in a New North Atlantic World, 1760-1829

From 1760 to 1829, a period in which the Western world often seemed on the verge of irreparable destruction, the Roman Catholic Church in the North Atlantic world not just survived but transformed itself into an inherently stronger institution. During the shaking experiences of those revolutionary decades, the church showed a notable lack of internal dissent and a remarkable unity of intentions, which was certainly shared by its hierarchy and, as far as scholars are able to tell, by the rank-and-file local priests and missionaries. Ruthless and lengthy as they were, not even ethnic rivalry and the trustee controversy, the two major instances of internal conflicts, succeeded in challenging the general stability and orderly existence that the North Atlantic church enjoyed under the overall direction of the Holy See. In an age of imperial warfare and democratic revolution, leaders of the Catholic Church on all levels shared a political attitude based on an abhorrence of radicalism, a straightforward loyalty to the established government, and a delicate balance between deference and firmness concerning their political and institutional leaders. Aimed as it was at non-Catholic civil governments, this conservative attitude was indeed a momentous novelty. A flexible and accommodating stance toward civil authorities helped church leaders strengthen their organization and consolidate their power and authority within it. Political necessities became ecclesiastical virtues, with a conservative institution devising a new strategy that allowed the Catholic Church to flourish after 1829.