Abstract
Robert Bellarmine put it with his customary clarity and forcefulness when he wrote: There is nothing that they [the Protestants] shudder at and abhor more than the invocation of saints, the cult of relics and the veneration of images. For they consider that these things constitute manifest impiety and idolatry.It was in recognition of this pressing reality that Rome—principally via the agency of die Sacred Congregation of Rites and Ceremonies—sought to put its house in order. It did so in two main ways: on the one hand, it relaunched official saint-making—the year of the congregation’s foundation (1588) saw the first official canonization after a hiatus of over half a century. Hand in hand with this went the tightening up of canonization procedure which was to culminate in a papal bull of 1634 that remained the final word on the subject until well into this century. On the other hand, regional churches were required to submit their local saints’ offices to Rome for approval. In addition, die authentication, translation, and display of relics became subject tounprecedented regulation.
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