Pelagians (Quietism)

Last updated September 04, 2020

The Pelagians (or Pelagini) were a lay confraternity founded in the church of Santa Pelagia in Milan by the seventeenth century Giacomo Filippo di Santa Pelagia, an Italian lay mystic. Although initially approved of by Roman Catholic authorities, the group was later condemned for alleged heretical practices associated with Quietism.^[1]

Giacomo Filippo di Santa Pelagia

Giacomo Filippo di Santa Pelagia, born Giacomo Casolo, was an illiterate beggar in Milan. He took the middle name "Filippo" in honor of the missionary Filippo de Neri. He formed a confraternity in the church of Santa Pelagia to teach piety and mental prayer to the laity. At the time, he was granted the approval of the local Jesuits. After establishing this confraternity, he proceeded to Venice on invitation from associates of the Jesuits.^[2]

After his time in Venice, he moved on to Brescia, visiting Valcamonica, a valley in this diocese, where he established an oratory dedicated to Saint Pelagia,^[2] after first obtaining permission from Marco Morosini, the Bishop of Brescia, to establish oratories there.^[3] Valcamonica became the center of the "Pelagian" movement.

Church Investigation

In a 1655 letter to the Holy Congregation of the Holy Office, Carlo Carafa, the nuncio in Venice (later a cardinal), described the Pelagians:

"[They] abhor association with others, asserting that those who do not follow them are in a state of damnation; they flee association even with their own wives, believing they can justifiably divorce them when they do not embrace their doctrine; they forbid listening to Mass, going to Confession and Communion and going to sermons by others; and they disseminate the notion that to be saved mental prayer is enough without the sacrements..."^[2]

After this letter was delivered, an investigation was launched by the Inquisitor of Brescia and Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, bishop of Brescia (later Pope Alexander VIII). The inquiry detailed that the oratories established by Giacomo Filippo di Santa Pelagia in Valcamonica were at first "attended by a small number of lay men and women", but their numbers had increased to around six-hundred.^[2] This increase occurred after Marco Antonio Recaldini (also spelled Ricaldini), the Padua-trained archpriest of Pisogne, took direction of the group.

A report by Cardinal Francesco Degli Albizzi on Quietism described the growing role of the oratories:

"Although at the beginning they exercised some spiritual functions, these functions increased in the course of time so that the lay persons arrogated to themselves the practice of preaching, and the women began to assemble in some private houses to make discourses too, concerning material of religion, asserting that the apostles were also poor and ignorant fishermen but nonetheless were allowed to preach. There was also the report of some depraved opinions reigning among that multitude of the inhabitants of Valcamonica, which, from the fact that Giacomo Filippo, the Milanese, worked at converting whores and assembled them in the rooms of the oratory of St. Pelagia in Milan, took the name of Pelagians..."^[2]

Condemnation

After Albizzi's report reached Church authorities, a resolution was passed on March 1, 1657 for the Pelagian oratories in Valcamonica to be destroyed and that Marc Antonio Recaldini and seven of his associates were to be banned from Valcamonica and "held in places far from the said valley."^[2] Cardinal Ottoboni was charged with the execution of these orders. Ottoboni's execution of these orders, however, did not prevent the continued popularity of "Quietist" circles of lay mystics in Italy.^[1]

Giacomo Filippo di Santa Pelagia does not appear to have ever have been condemned himself. He died in Milan in June 1656 before the trial was concluded. The Archpriest of Morbegno was found in 1686 to be "distributing relics of him and collecting materials for his life and miracles."^[3] He was forced to abandon this pursuit after receiving a summons from the Inquisitor of Como. Later, the Provost of Talamona was questioned regarding his motives in keeping a devotional picture of Giacomo.^[3]

Aftermath

After the 1656 condemnation, leadership was continued by Francesco Catanei and Marc Antonio Ricaldini. Marc Antonio's brother, Agostino Recaldini, a "married layman", may have had even greater influence.^[3] He was imprisoned in 1656 and was tortured three times. On September 19, 1660, he was exiled from the Valcamonica to Treviso. He was tried again there, apparently having persisted in his heretical views, and was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. A book of his was also publicly burnt.^[3]

The Church renewed its persecutions in the 1680s, the group having had "maintained a secret existence for over twenty years", spreading beyond its original location to include oratories promoting mental prayer "in Brescia, Verona, Vincenza, Treviso, Padua, Pesaro, Lucca and countless other places."^[3]

By 1680, Agosto was free from prison and living under the supervision of the vicar general. Later, he left Treviso for Chiuro in the Valtelline. Antonio Ceccotti, the Inquisitor of Brescia, unsuccessfully attempted to persuade local authorities to extradite Recaldini. Ceccotti's efforts ended when he learned in March 1685 that Recaldini had died on October 6 of the previous year, after having received full sacraments and possessing a reputation for piety.

In Brescia, a related group known as the Pellegrini practiced assiduous mental prayer. They had a membership of about six-hundred and were under the leadership of Bartolommeo Bona, a priest from Saint Rocco. In Verona, Giovanni Battista Bonioli led a group with similar aims, having about thirty members.^[3]

Related Research Articles

Pope Alexander VIII, born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was Pope from 6 October 1689 to his death in 1691. He is to date the last pope to take the pontifical name of "Alexander" upon his election to the papacy.

Anthony Maria Zaccaria, also known as Saint Anthony Zaccaria, was an early leader of the Counter Reformation, the founder of religious orders (Barnabites) and a promoter of the devotion to the Passion of Christ, the Eucharist and the renewal of the religious life among the lay people. His feast day is celebrated on 5 July.

Val Camonica is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy, Italy. It extends about 90 kilometres (56 mi) from the Tonale Pass to Corna Trentapassi, in the commune of Pisogne near Lake Iseo. It has an area of about 1,335 km² (515 sq mi) and 118,323 inhabitants.

Pietro Ottoboni was an Italian cardinal and grandnephew of Pope Alexander VIII, who was also born Pietro Ottoboni. He is remembered especially as a great patron of music and art. Ottoboni was the last person to hold the curial office of Cardinal-nephew, which was abolished by Alexander's successor, Pope Innocent XII, in 1692. Ottoboni '"loved pomp, prodigality, and sensual pleasure, but was in the same time kind, ready to serve and charitable".

A doctor of both laws, from the Latin doctor utriusque juris, or juris utriusque doctor, or doctor juris utriusque is a scholar who has acquired a doctorate in both civil and church law. The degree was common among Roman Catholic and German scholars of the Middle Ages and early modern times. Today the degree is awarded by the Pontifical Lateran University after a period of six years of study, by the University of Würzburg, and by the University of Fribourg.

The Roman Diocese Catholic of Brescia is a Latin rite suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan, in Lombardy.

Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy.

The Diocese of Novara is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Padua is an episcopal see of the Catholic Church in Veneto, northern Italy. It was erected in the 3rd century. The diocese of Padua was originally a suffragan (subordinate) of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. When the Patriarchate was suppressed permanently in 1752, it became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Udine. In 1818, when the dioceses of northern Italy were reorganized by Pope Pius VII, it became a suffragan of the Patriarchate of Venice, and remains so today.

Carlo Bacchiocco was an Italian painter, born in Milan. The volume Scelte Pitture di Brescia by Averoldo mentions several of his pictures in Brescia, particularly in the church of SS. Giacomo e Filippo and Santa Maria degl'Angeli.

The Val Camonica witch trials were two large witch trials which took place in Val Camonica in Italy, in 1505–1510 and 1518–1521. They were among the biggest Italian witch trials, and caused the deaths of about 60 persons, in each trial: 110 in total.

The September 1590 papal conclave elected Giovanni Battista Castagna as Pope Urban VII.

Cesare Monti was an Italian Cardinal who served as Latin Patriarch of Antioch and Archbishop of Milan.

The 1740 papal conclave, convoked after the death of Pope Clement XII on 6 February 1740, was one of the longest conclaves since the 13th century.

Quirino Colombani was an Italian composer, and cellist. He was active in both 17th and 18th centuries.

Filippo Maria Visconti (1721–1801) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1784 to 1801.

The Oratorio di San Carlo is a Baroque-style prayer hall located inside the church of San Carlo al Porto, located on Strada Porto Naviglio in Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

Ranuccio Scotti Douglas or Ranuzio Scotti Douglas was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Borgo San Donnino (1627–1650), Apostolic Nuncio to Switzerland (1630-1639), and Apostolic Nuncio to France (1639–1641).

Jacopo Antonio Morigia oalso known as Giacomo Antonio Moriggia was a cardinal and Italian Catholic archbishop.

The Standard of Our Lady of Mercy is a 1520-1522 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Tempio Canoviano in Possagno. It is made up of two canvases, now separated one showing Our Lady of Mercy and the other shows The Prophets Enoch and Elijah.

References

1 2 Sluhovsky, Moshe. Believe Not Every Spirit: Possession, Mysticism, & Discernment in Early Modern Catholicism. Page 115. University of Chicago Press, 2007.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Dooley, Brendan (ed.) Italy in the Baroque: Selected Readings. Pages 572-575. Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Vol. IV. Pages 46-48. The MacMillan Company, 1922.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Sluhovsky-1] 1 2 Sluhovsky, Moshe. Believe Not Every Spirit: Possession, Mysticism, & Discernment in Early Modern Catholicism. Page 115. University of Chicago Press, 2007.

[Dooley-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dooley, Brendan (ed.) Italy in the Baroque: Selected Readings. Pages 572-575. Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995.

[Lea-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Vol. IV. Pages 46-48. The MacMillan Company, 1922.