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IdeologyReligious family

Ultramontanism

Also called: Ultramontanist movement · Papalism · Ultramontane Catholicism

Ultramontanism is the Catholic movement that places supreme authority in the pope, in church teaching and discipline, and resists control of the Church by national governments.

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Ultramontanism on 12 axes-100 to +100
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where it stands

Ultramontanism, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership+30
    PublicPrivate
  2. 02Markets-5
    PlannedFree

    The movement was about church authority and had no fixed economic plan until the social teaching of Leo XIII.

  3. 03Welfare+5
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority+75
    DemocraticStrong leader
  5. 05Security+70
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06Structure+80
    LocalCentral

    The centralising it urged was inside the Church, under the pope. On how centralised the state should be, views differed by country.

  7. 07Morality+90
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion+100
    SecularReligious
  9. 09Technology+60
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10Culture-10
    MulticulturalNational identity

    Ultramontanes put Rome ahead of national churches. That cut against nationalism, although at home many of them held conservative cultural views.

  11. 11Trade+15
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policy+10
    CooperationStrength

What is Ultramontanism?

Ultramontanism is a Catholic position that stresses the authority of the pope over local churches and over states. The word means beyond the mountains, a reference to Rome across the Alps as seen from France and Germany. Ultramontanes opposed Gallicanism, which wanted a national church under its own king, and they opposed liberal ideas that put the state above religion. They argued that the pope had the final word on faith and morals, and that Catholics owed him loyalty. The movement was strongest in the nineteenth century and shaped modern Catholicism.

Core beliefs

  • The pope has supreme authority over the whole Church.
  • Church teaching on faith and morals binds Catholics in public as well as private life.
  • The Church should be free from government control, and ideally have a privileged place.
  • Catholic education and the Church's own institutions should be protected.
  • Modern liberal ideas such as complete freedom of religion and the press can be dangerous.
  • Catholics should unite across national borders under Rome.

History

Joseph de Maistre argued in Du Pape in 1819 that the pope was the foundation of order in Europe after the French Revolution. Louis Veuillot, editor of the newspaper L'Univers, rallied French Catholics from the 1840s. Pope Pius IX, who lost his rule over Rome during the unification of Italy, issued the Syllabus of Errors in 1864, which condemned many liberal ideas. The First Vatican Council in 1870 defined papal infallibility on faith and morals, when speaking formally, and the pope's universal jurisdiction. Some Catholics such as Ignaz von Döllinger refused to accept this and left. In Germany, Bismarck's Kulturkampf of the 1870s was a campaign against the Catholic Church. Leo XIII later stressed social teaching in Rerum Novarum of 1891, and the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965 moved the Church to a more open stance.

Variants

Ultramontanism came in several forms. The doctrinal form stressed papal primacy and infallibility. The political form sought alliance with conservative governments or a Catholic social order. Liberal Catholics, like some in France and Belgium, accepted modern freedoms but also wanted loyalty to Rome. In England, Henry Edward Manning, who became Archbishop of Westminster, was a leading ultramontane, while John Henry Newman was more cautious. After Vatican II, its heirs argue about how far to follow the pope on reform.

Criticisms

Liberal critics said ultramontanism put loyalty to a foreign authority above loyalty to the nation, and denied freedom of conscience and of the press. Protestants and secular governments saw it as a threat to civil authority, which led to conflicts in Germany, France and Italy. Within the Church, some Catholics argued that it hardened doctrine and weakened bishops and councils. Historians point out that its defence of the Church also served as a defence of old social privileges. Supporters said the pope was the best protection against state control of religion.

In practice

Ultramontanism changed the Church from a loose set of national churches into a more centralised body, with strong ties to Rome, bishops chosen with papal approval. Its legacy lives on in the powers of the modern papacy and in some traditional Catholic groups. On the 12 axes it scores at the extreme toward Religious on Religion and very strongly toward Traditional on Morality. It scores strongly toward Central on Structure, mainly within the Church, and strongly toward Strong leader on Authority.

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Ultramontanism: questions

Is ultramontanism left or right wing?

It is usually linked to the right in the nineteenth century, because it opposed liberalism and revolution. But it was about church authority more than economics, and some ultramontanes later backed social reform. Its politics varied by country.

Ultramontanism vs Gallicanism: what is the difference?

Ultramontanists gave the pope supreme authority over the whole Church. Gallicanists, especially in France, wanted the national church to keep its own customs and to be shielded from papal interference by the king. Vatican I in 1870 settled the question in favour of the pope.

Do Catholics today have to be ultramontane?

Catholics accept papal primacy as a matter of doctrine. But the word itself is mostly used for the nineteenth century movement, and Catholics differ on how far the pope's authority reaches into politics. Vatican II stressed the role of bishops and the laity as well.

Further reading