The Rationalization of Miracles

Chronicles the emergence of modern sainthood, analyzing how the Catholic Church legitimized miracles during the Counter-Reformation in southern Europe.

Paolo Parigi (Author)

9781107663053, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 March 2014

214 pages, 15 b/w illus. 9 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.29 kg

'This book offers a fascinating interpretation of how and why the Catholic Church invented rules to govern the process of evaluating miracles during the Counter-Reformation. Emphasizing the largely secular challenges the Church faced in the wake of the Protestant reformation, Parigi makes the case that the Church hierarchy and local clerics joined forces to reward miracles that cross-cut social categories, thereby solidifying the organizational structure of the recently weakened Church. More organizational theory than religious history, the captivating details of early modern miracles are nevertheless the key to making this book of interest to a wide range of readers.' Katherine Stovel, University of Washington

During the Counter-Reformation in southern Europe, Catholic Church officials developed rules to legitimize miracles performed by candidates to sainthood. The Rationalization of Miracles uncovers a tacit understanding between central religious officials and local religious activists. Each group had a vested interest in declaring miracles: Catholic Church leaders sought legitimacy in the wake of the crisis of faith created by the Protestant Schism and religious acolytes needed Church approval to secure a flow of resources to their movements. The Church's new procedure of deeming miracles 'true' when there were witnesses of different statuses and the acts occurred in the presence of a candidate's acolyte served the needs of both parties. And by developing rules and procedures for evaluating miracles, the Church rationalized the magic at the root of the miracles, thereby propelling the institution out of a period of institutional, political and social uncertainty and forming the basis of modern sainthood.

1. The congregatio sacrorum rituum
2. The living saint
3. The acolytes
4. The devil's advocate and the doctor
5. Manufacturing true miracles.

Subject Areas: Sociology: customs & traditions [JHBT], Religious groups: social & cultural aspects [JFSR], Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church [HRCC7], History of religion [HRAX]