What did the council of Trent want to get accomplished?

Answer 1

It made Catholic beliefs clear, it also set up strict policies for how bishops and priests should behave.

Catholic Answer
The 19th Ecumenical Council of the Church was summoned for the purposes of 1) reforming the Church, and 2) combating Protestantism. The nineteenth ecumenical council opened at Trent on 13 December, 1545, and closed there on 4 December, 1563. Its main object was the definitive determination of the doctrines of the Church in answer to the heresies of the Protestants; a further object was the execution of a thorough reform of the inner life of the Church by removing the numerous abuses that had developed in it. The Council of Trent was called by Paul III who was pope from 1534 to 1549 and it first sat in December 1545.

from the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the Council of Trent

The Ecumenical Council of Trent has proved to be of the greatest importance for the development of the inner life of the Church. No council has ever had to accomplish its task under more serious difficulties, none has had so many questions of the greatest importance to decide. The assembly proved to the world that notwithstanding repeated apostasy in church life there still existed in it an abundance of religious force and of loyal championship of the unchanging principles of Christianity. Although unfortunately the council, through no fault of the fathers assembled, was not able to heal the religious differences of Western Europe, yet the infallible Divine truth was clearly proclaimed in opposition to the false doctrines of the day, and in this way a firm foundation was laid for the overthrow of heresy and the carrying out of genuine internal reform in the Church.

from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957

The Council of Trent

The 19th ecumenical council held at Trent in the Austrian Tyrol, 1545-63, summoned for the purpose of combating Protestantism and reforming the discipline of the Church; the longest and one of the most important of all general councils. It dealt in detail with the doctrinal innovations of the Reformers and with those gross abuses which gave them an opportunity to take root. It was one of the most important events of modern history and has had lasting effect. The principal dogmatic decisions were: the confirmation of the Nicene creed; the authenticity of the Latin Vulgate and the canonicity of all books contained therein and of them only; the definition of the doctrine of Original Sin; the precision of the doctrine of Justification, condemning justification by faith alone and imputation of grace; the condemnation of thirty errors about the sacraments; the definition of the Real Presence and of Transubstantiation as its mode: the precision of the doctrine of the sacraments of penance and Extreme Unction; the declaration that holy communion in both kinds was not necessary for lay-people and clerics not celebrating, Christ being received whole and entire under either species; the precision of doctrine concerning the sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments of holy Orders and Matrimony; the affirmation of the doctrines of Purgatory, of the invocation of saints, and the veneration of them, their relics and images, and of Indulgences. Far-reaching decrees of reformation in discipline and morals were adopted involving many alterations in canon law, e.g. the decree Tametsi.

Answer 2

The Council of Trent was formed to review all the aspects of the Catholic church. It also was made in hopes that it would bring back followers which left the church.

The Council of Trent tried to reshape and rebuild the church by trying the re-emphasize beliefs, reassert liturgical life, and to win back those who accepted the Protestant faith.

Answer 3

The two main goals of the Council of Trent was the re-affirmation of the doctrine of the Catholic Church, especially in regards to the Eucharist's status as transubstantiation. [In transubstantiation: wine becomes the actual blood of Christ, the wafer becomes Christ's body, although it materially looks the same after consecration].

The second main goal was a decision by the Papacy as to the Church's reaction to the loss of a number of local German states to Lutheranism. They were also seeking to resolve internal corruption and abuses uncovered during the theological resistance provided by the Protestant Reformation. After fielding continual assertions that the Papacy was not held to account by its own councils, the Pope's decision to convene the council was a difficult and torturous one.

The two main goals of the Council of Trent was the re-affirmation of proper teachings of the original Catholic Church, and the reshape and removal of offices, policies, and powers that were corrupt and were indeed diminishing the Church's goals to preserve the universal church.

Although the Council of Trent merely reinstated the same Catholic traditions that Protestants like John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli criticized, thus displeasing and removing the new Protestants from being anything but heretics, the Council of Trent provided the Papacy with the information and tools to remove corrupt and heretical practices, which allowed the Church to expand its administration and message to other frontiers. This Catholic Reformation allowed the once-unstable Catholic Church to compete on equal footing with Lutherans and Calvinists for the spiritual purity of parishioners.

The Council of Trent gave the Papacy the suggestions that helped it refine its liturgical education, deflecting Lutheran accusations of illiteracy amongst the clergy; improving the actual demeanor and practice of the clergy, defining the responsibilities and constraints of clergy office, and a better training and understanding in the proper order of the sacraments to those whom were authorized to perform them.

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Catholic AnswerThe 19th ecumenical Council of the Church held at Trent in the sixteenth century (1545-63) was summoned for the purpose of (1) combating the protestant revolt and (2) reforming the discipline of the Church.

from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

The nineteenth ecumenical council opened at Trent on 13 December, 1545, and closed there on 4 December, 1563. Its main object was the definitive determination of the doctrines of the Church in answer to the heresies of the Protestants; a further object was the execution of a thorough reform of the inner life of the Church by removing the numerous abuses that had developed in it.

from

A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957

The Counter-Reformation is the name given to the Catholic movement of reform and activity which lasted for about one hundred years from the beginning of the Council of Trent (q.v., 1545), and was the belated answer to the threatening confusion and increasing attacks of the previous years. It was the work principally of the Popes St. Pius V and Gregory XIII and the Council itself in the sphere of authority, of SS. Philip Neri and Charles Borromeo in the reform of the clergy and of life, of St. Ignatius and the Jesuits in apostolic activity of St. Francis Xavier in foreign missions, and of St. Teresa in the purely contemplative life which lies behind them all. But these were not the only names nor was it a movement of a few only; the whole Church emerged from the 15th century purified and revivified. On the other hand, it was a reformation rather than a restoration; the unity of western Christendom was destroyed; the Church militant (those still on earth) led by the Company of Jesus adopted offence as the best means of defence and, though she gained as much as she lost in some sense, the Church did not recover the exercise of her former spiritual supremacy in actuality.

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.

Answer 4

The Council of Trent aimed to address the issues raised by the Protestant Reformation, reaffirm Catholic teachings, and combat heresies. It sought to improve the discipline and moral standards of the clergy, clarify church doctrines, and promote unity among Catholics.