Ultramontanism and the catholic reaction to modernity in the 19th century

Abstract

The concept of ultramontanism is among those that, not infrequently, cause more complications than help historians of the Catholic Church. This is because it is a complex historical concept, whose word that names it underwent a series of changes in meaning until it came to designate a specific Catholic tendency of the 19th century. In addition to the complexities inherent to the concept itself, ultramontanism is still involved in a series of other concepts, categories or expressions (such as “Catholic reform”, or “Romanization”) which, in the Brazilian case, mischaracterized its original nuances, whether for its sometimes careless use, or for the singularities generated by the various adaptations of ultramontane ideals throughout the non-European Catholic world. Hence, in this paper I initially propose a conceptual approach to the word “ultramontanism” and then analyze the movement in its contrast with other Catholic trends and with the tumultuous historical events of the 19th century. Finally, I propose an analysis of the relationship between ultramontanism and the consolidation of the modern world in nineteenth-century Europe, as well as the way in which, from then on, Catholicism represented an insistent attempt to return to the past in the face of the advance of modernity.