gallicanism

2 definitions found

gallicanism - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Gallicanism \Gal"li*can*ism\, n.
     The principles, tendencies, or action of those, within the
     Roman Catholic Church in France, who (esp. in 1682) sought to
     restrict the papal authority in that country and increase the
     power of the national church. --Schaff-Herzog Encyc.
     [1913 Webster]

gallicanism - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Gallicanism
      n 1: a religious movement originating among the French Roman
           Catholic clergy that favored the restriction of papal
           control and the achievement by each nation of individual
           administrative autonomy of the church