Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro treats the riches of Catholic political thought in the 16th and 17th century. That thought, which involved a variety of Jesuit scholars in particular, brought forth serious meditations on the origin of state authority, the limitations placed upon it by Christian morality, the Catholic hierarchy, tradition, and the needs of the population as a whole. One major issue which Catholics had to tackle at this time was also that of what to do with a heretical or invincibly evil monarch at the head of the state. Could force be used to overturn an apostate or an unjust ruler? Taken from: Protestant Rebellion and Catholic Reform (1517-1648) – 1997 VonHildebrand Institute