From “Basilica” by R.A. Scotti;
“A mere fifty years after its unity fractured, the Catholic Church was reborn, more confident than ever, but increasingly closed. The resurgent Church became cautious, not humble. Orthodoxy became paramount. What was lost was not munificence but magnanimity – that largeness of spirit that made anything possible, that allowed every voice and cockamamie idea to be aired. The church that had invented the term devil’s advocate to raise intellectual challenges became leery of open debate. That is, perhaps, one of the lasting legacies of Protestantism.”
A word to our day from the time of the counter-reformation?
That’s quite a read. Given that Hus was burned at the stake after being promised safe passage (and this sat in the back of Luther’s escape from Worms), I’m not quite so sure of the largeness of spirit and willingness to hear any idea.