At Your Fingertips, Volume 4: The Catholic Church Rides the Waves of Turbulent History (1648-1848)

During these two hundred years (1648-1848) Catholic princes and other secular authorities tried to control the Church and to marginalize her influence. Yet, despite the very low state to which the Papacy and the Catholic Church had fallen, wonderful achievements were being realized throughout Europe and beyond. Divine Providence provided great saintly men and women, churchmen, preachers, missionaries, scholars and artists to swell her ranks. This fourth volume of At Your Fingertips was written to provide the reader with a quick and concise reference to some of the highlights of this era which began in 1648, the year of the Peace of Westphalia and concluded in 1848, when revolutions swept across Europe. The Church survived the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon to see restoration of the Society of Jesus and the founding of many new religious communities, and the unprecedented growth of the Church in many newly emerging nations in the Americas. History shows us that God, the Lord of all times, is ultimately in charge of events and their outcome.