How did the Catholic church end Protestantism?

Answer 1

Although, beginning about the 12th Century, there was an attempt to end opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Paul III officially established the tribunals of the Inquisition in the 16th Century to thwart the progress of the Reformation and ensuing Protestantism. The goals were never fully accomplished, although a number of the opposition and protesters were martyred. Martin Luther narrowly escaped incarceration by Rome, with almost certain death for his refusal to recant his position.

Aside from Protestantism surviving to date, there were those who were separate from the Roman control, being guided solely by the Scriptures teachings. Many Baptists today find their roots back to the Early Church, before Catholicism, and thus do not consider themselves Protestant or of those who rose up to protest against Rome's dominance and errors. While there is a measure of kinship with the Protestants, the heritage and beginning of these believers were not the same as they had. Many of these were persecuted and martyred by Rome as well.

Neither the Protestants, nor the Baptists were ended by Rome.

Roman Catholic AnswerThe Church's response to the protestant revolt was the Catholic Reform, called by protestant historians the "Counter-'Reformation". It was a period that ran about 150 years and greatly renewed the Church. It was very successful in limited areas with such saints as St. Francis de Sales, in other areas it was not so successful as the protestant revolt was mainly run by the ruling powers of each region. Although there were a number of heresies over the centuries before the protestant revolt in the sixteenth century, none of them survived to this day.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

A period of Catholic revival from 1522 to about 1648, better know as the Catholic Reform. It was an effort to stem the tide of Protestantism by genuine reform within the Catholic Church. There were political movements pressured by civil rules, and ecclesiastical movements carried out by churchmen in an attempt to restore genuine Catholic life by establishing new religious orders such as the Society of Jesus and restoring old orders to their original observances, such as the Carmelites under St. Teresa of Avila (1515-98). The main factors responsible for the Counter Reformation, however, were the papacy and the council of Trent (1545-63). Among church leaders St. Charles Borromeo (1538-84), Archbishop of Milan, enforced the reforms decreed by the council, and St. Francis de Sales of Geneva (1567-1622) spent his best energies in restoring genuine Catholic doctrine and piety. Among civil rulers sponsoring the needed reform were Philip II of Spain (1527-98) and Mary Tudor (1516-58), his wife, in England. Unfortunately this aspect of the reformation led to embitterment between England and Scotland, England and Spain, Poland and Sweden, and to almost two centuries of religious wars. As a result of the Counter Reformation, the Catholic Church became stronger in her institutional structure, more dedicated to the work of evangelization, and more influential in world affairs.