Zelanti

In Roman Catholicism, the expression ''zelanti'' has been applied to conservative members of the clergy and their lay supporters since the thirteenth century. Its specific connotations have shifted with each reapplication of the label. The Latinate term applies to those who show zeal. ''Zelanti'' were also known as ''intransigenti''.

In its original thirteenth-century application the ''zelanti'' were those members of the Franciscan Order who opposed any changes or relaxation to the Rule formulated by St. Francis of Assisi in 1221 and 1223. In consequence of St. Francis's severe requirements concerning the practice of poverty, his followers divided into two branches, the ''Zelanti'', or Spirituals, and the ''Relaxati'', known later as the Conventuals. The origin of the Fraticelli and the cause of their growth within and without the Franciscan Order must be sought in the history of the ''zelanti'' or "Spirituals".

In the eighteenth century the ''zelanti'' were the supporters of the Jesuits in the long controversy that led the suppression of the Jesuits in 1767–1773. At the 1774–1775 papal conclave the College of Cardinals was generally divided into two blocs: curial, pro-Jesuit ''zelanti'' and political, temporizing faction, anti-Jesuit. Among the ''zelanti'' were the Italian curial cardinals who opposed secular influences on the Church. The second faction included crown-cardinals of the Catholic courts. These two blocs were in no way homogeneous. ''Zelanti'' were divided into moderate and radical factions.

During the papacy of Pius VII the ''zelanti'' were more radically reactionary than the ''politicani'' and wanted a highly centralised Church with vehement opposition to the secularising reforms that had resulted in France from the Revolution, which liberals were intent on spreading to the Papal States. The ''politicani'', though not liberal, were much more moderate and favoured a conciliatory approach to dealing with the problems new ideologies and the incipient Industrial Revolution were creating in the early nineteenth century. The ''zelanti'' and the moderates featured in the 1823 papal conclave and the 1829 papal conclave.

In the 20th century, Rafael Merry del Val (Pope Pius X’s secretary of state) was a prominent ''zelante''.

See also

Carlo Agostino Fabroni

References

{{reflist

External links

JStor website
''Napoleon Bonaparte and the Restoration of Catholicism in France'', article by Sr. M. Barbara, published in The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Jul., 1926), pp. 241–257

History of the Catholic Church