CATHOLICISM

Below is the history of the basis of Catholicism and it's major event in France before the 17th Century which, consequently, has affected the world our characters live in. I have highlighted the sentences, and phrases that I find relevant and linked to 'The Devils' by John Whiting:

“The Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the western world. It can trace its history back almost 2000 years.

Today there are more than a billion Catholics in the world, spread across all five continents with particular concentrations in southern Europe, the United States, the Philippines and the countries of Central and South America. What binds this diverse group of people together is their faith in Jesus Christ and their obedience to the papacy.

Catholics believe that the Pope, based in Rome, is the successor to Saint Peter whom Christ appointed as the first head of His church. He therefore stands in what Catholicism calls the apostolic succession, an unbroken line back to Peter and has supreme authority. Popes can speak infallibly on matters of faith and morals but in practice do so rarely.

The Catholic Church ordains only celibate men to the priesthood since Jesus was, it teaches, male and celibate. In the Protestant churches married and female clergy are the norm. Orthodoxy allows married men to become priests but not bishops.

Moreover, the hierarchical nature of Catholicism sets it apart from other Christian churches. It is a pyramid with the Pope at the top, followed by cardinals (who have the right to elect a new pope on the death of the current incumbent), archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons and laity.

Traditionally clerics were seen as having a higher calling than the laity but, since the landmark Second Vatican Council, both laity and clergy have been regarded as jointly 'the people of God'. That same reforming council stressed the need for popes and bishops to consult widely before pronouncing on matters of faith, but in practice they retain the unfettered power to teach on such questions. All major decisions rest with the Pope and his advisors.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/catholic/catholic_1.shtml

 “Also, similar to much of the rest of Europe, France was troubled by religious division.  France at one time had been united by its allegiance to Roman Catholicism, but in the 16th century, John Calvin's teachings began to spread widely.   Many of the friars, disgusted with the spectacle of wealthy higher church officials who had no spiritual vocation at all, converted to Calvinism and worked to spread the new movement.  Many bourgeois types, perhaps eyeing the wealth of the church which was being so badly misused, likewise converted to the Calvinist faith.  And many nobles converted, some because they thought Calvin right, others because Calvinism was a convenient excuse for resisting the growing power of the Catholic kings of France. These tensions led to French Wars of Religion (1562-1589). 

Once started the wars were difficult to stop.  There was a lull in the fighting in 1572, and King Charles IX wanted to make peace.  He arranged a marriage between his sister, Margaret of Valois, and Henry of Navarre, a leader of the Calvinists.  The wedding was to be held in Paris on St. Bartholomew’s Day.  Charles advisors told him he couldn't trust Calvinists, and persuaded him to give the order (which he later regretted greatly) to kill all the Calvinist nobles who had come up to Paris for the wedding and were not prepared to offer much resistance.

Word spread that it was acceptable to kill Calvinists, so people used the occasion to settle all sorts of private disputes.  Debtors killed Calvinist creditors.  Rejected suitors killed Calvinists who had turned them down.  Students killed Calvinist teachers (e.g., Petrus Ramus!).  Thirteen thousand people were killed during the "Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre," and the wars of religion
continued. Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism to save his life, but then decided he was a Calvinist after all and, gathering his forces together, led Calvinists to victory after victory.  By 1589, he held all France except Paris.  He converted to Catholicism again (!) so that Parisians would accept them as their king and he wouldn't have to destroy the city in order to include it in his dominions.  The undisputed king of all France, commonly known as King Henry IV.” http://www3.northern.edu/marmorsa/delinenotes16thfrance.htm