El Catecismo Romano ante Felipe II y la Inquisición española: Los problemas de la introducción en España del Catecismo del Concilio de Trento by Pedro Rodríguez (review)

628BOOK reviews El Catecismo Romano ante Felipe ILy la Inquisición española:Losproblemas de la introducción en España del Catecismo del Concilio de Trento. By Pedro Rodríguez. (Madrid: Ediciones Rialp. 1998. Pp. 246. Paperback.) Pedro Rodriguez, who holds a chair of theology at the Universidad de Navarra , is the author of many earlier studies on the history of theology; he was the general editor of the critical edition of the Roman Catechism published in 1989. There he pointed out the close connection between this and the earlier catechism due to Bartolomé de Carranza, which—although its author had become archbishop of Toledo—was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition, and showed that the theologians who were responsible for the Roman Catechism of 1 566 were among Carranza's defenders during his trial in Rome and that the Spanish critics of the Roman Catechism were,for their part, involved in the two processes against the archbishop. Criticisms of the Latin text, while they may have delayed (until 1577) the publication of a Spanish edition, could not prevent the circulation in Spain of the Roman editions of 1566 and 1567. A Spanish translation was another matter . In 1567, in response to the desire of Philip II that the Catechism should be made available to all his subjects, St. Pius V authorized such a translation and asked the Inquisitor General, Cardinal Diego de Espinosa, to choose a translator; he selected Dr. Pedro de Fuentidueñas of Salamanca. Before Fuentidueñas could complete his work another (unofficial) translation by a leading scholar, Cristóbal de Carrera, had been presented to the Inquisition. The main object of this book is to show why neither translation was ever published. Hostile reactions to the very idea of translating the Catechism were clearly stated in a memorandum on Fuentidueñas' work submitted in 1570 by the Dominican Diego de Chaves to the Consejo Supremo of the Inquisition. For Chaves, to translate even the most orthodox doctrinal statements into the vernacular could lead to the same problems that had arisen in Germany and England . Despite the fact that Espinosa was Inquisitor General and had acted at the personal request of Pius V and at the wish of Philip II, he was unable to contest Chaves' arguments, which had been immediately adopted by the Consejo; this veto was to remain in force for two centuries. While translations into Italian, French, German, and Polish were published as early as 1567-68, no complete Spanish version appeared until 1777. While, as Rodríguez argues, Chaves' opposition to the translation of the Catechism appears to be linked with the second process against Carranza, the fundamental reason for this prohibition was, behind the condemnations of translations of the Bible and of spiritual and theological writings found in the Indices published by the Spanish Inquisition in the 1550's, the preservation of Spain from heresy, though this meant reserving spiritual teaching to those able to read Latin, something that St. Theresa, for one, found hard to take. Rodriguez's work includes the crucial documents concerning this prohibition . By comparing Chaves' text with the writings of Melchor Cano against Car- BOOK REVIEWS629 tanza, he brings out the reasons for it. The book thus sheds much light not only on the Spain of Philip II—who is shown as far from being an absolute monarch —but on the differences between the dominant Spanish theologians of the day and those outside Spain—including Pius V—who clearly wanted the new Catechism to be available to all those capable of understanding it. J. N. Hillgarth Pontifical Institute ofMediaeval Studies, Emeritus 'Practical Divinity': The Works and Life ofRevd Richard Greenham. By Kenneth L. Parker and Eric J. Carlson. [St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History .] (Aldershot, Hampshire, and Brookfield, Vermont: Ashgate. 1998. Pp. xiv, 395. $102.95.) Richard Greenham belonged to the first generation of Elizabethan Puritan nonconformist divines,famous in his own day not for his nonconformity, which he minimized and excused to his bishop, Richard Cox, but rather as one of the early physicians of the soul. He left his fellowship at Cambridge University in 1570 for the nearby small village of Dry Drayton, where he...