Reform in the Twilight Years

The interplay of honour and reform continued in the last years of Pope Paul’s pontificate. With the Council transferred to Bologna and most of the prominent reformers either dead or retired, the movement for reform was left languishing. Yet Paul was aware that reform was unfinished business and that if he could keep it under his control, it would bring him honour to stimulate the movement once more. In his last year, Paul made attempts to bring influential bishops to Rome to consider reform possibilities. Those efforts were still in train when Paul died. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the course of reform under Paul and on how culture shaped events in this period.