Pope Leo XIII, seeking to address “the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class”, issued on 15 May 1891 Rerum Novarum, an encyclical on the rights and duties of capital and labor. It is considered a seminal classic of Catholic social teaching. Image links to Vatican translation.
History, in eight volumes, of the Catholic Church from the public manifestation of Jesus Christ to Pope Pius IX (A.D. c.27 – 1878). Translated into English by Rev. Newton Thompson, S.T.D. Published by B. Herder Book Co., 1931-57. Image links to .pdf files of the complete set.
Summoned by Pope Pius IX, Vatican I (A.D. 1869-70) condemned, as erroneous, philosophical naturalism, pantheism, materialism, and atheism. It also affirmed each successor to the chair of the St. Peter obtains the primacy of Peter: as Vicar of Christ and sovereign head of the Church militant. Image above links to Tanner translation of the decrees. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2
Apostolic Constitution, promulgated December 8, 1854, establishing the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” Image links to English translation.
Newman’s lucid and meticulously pondered autobiographical defense of his conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. Seeking to expose the corruption and errors of the Roman Church, Newman’s intellectual search for truth led back to the Holy See. Apologia Pro Vita Sua provides cogent testimony to the authenticity of the Roman Catholic Apostolic tradition. First published in 1864. Image links to Wilfrid Ward Oxford edition. ISBN recommendation: 0-14-043374-0
Upon observing a movement toward the abandonment of traditional principles and doctrine by many Bishops, clergy, and theologians in the Anglican communion, John Henry Newman developed criteria for rationally assessing and discerning between authentic development and corruption of Christian doctrine. First published in 1845, image links to Newman’s 1878 revised edition. ISBN recommendation: 0-268-00921-X
The Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution led to the end of the ancient Western monarchical and feudal system. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789) is a document of fundamental importance from that period. It sets forth universal, fundamental, inalienable, human rights. Strange, though, such a document served as impulse to the Reign of Terror. Image links to the Yale Law School translation.
Events in Western Christendom, beginning on 31 October 1517, led to widespread revolt against and abandonment of the Roman Catholic Church. Finally in 1545, Pope Paul III was able to convoke a council in Trent (A.D. 1545-63) in order to form a definitive response to the assertions of the Protestants and to effect a general reform of the Church. The Council of Trent is regarded as ecumenical by the Holy See and the initiation of the Counter-Reformation. Image above links to Buckley translation of the Council’s canons and decrees. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2
The life and acts of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and towering Catholic spiritual leader during the outbreak of the Reformation. His autobiography was recorded by Fr. Louis Gonzalez, S.J., from the lips of the saint himself during the period of 1553-55. Image links to J. F. X. O’Conor, S.J., edition. ISBN recommendation: 0-14-043385-6
Summoned by Pope Julius II in opposition to a quasi-council assembled in Pisa under the support and protection of King Louis XII of France and the Emperor Maximilian, the general council, Lateran V (A.D. 1512-17), succeeded in quashing the Pisan assembly and attaining the revocation and annulment of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. Image above links to Tanner translation of the decrees. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2