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Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was the period following the Protestant Reformation, in which the Catholic Church experienced a revival. The Counter-Reformation began with The Council of Trent in the mid-1500s, and concluded with the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. The movement focused on reforming some elements of the Catholic Church, including church hierarchy, political involvement, and religious orders.

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How did reformation end?

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From Wikipedia: The European wars of religion were a series of religious wars waged in Europe from ca. 1524 to 1648, following the onset of the Protestant Reformation in Central, Western and Northern Europe.

One of the first "endings" was the Peace of Augsburg September 25, 1555.

The Peace of Westphalia was one of a series of peace treaties in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years’ War (Holy Roman Empire) and the Eighty Years’ War (Spain and the Dutch Republic. The Peace of Westphalia was really the end to the Wars of Religion, establishing Calvinist along with Lutheranism.


The religious wars in Ireland, England, and Scotland came to an end in 1651.

What were the results of the counter reformation?

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The Counter-Reformation Era addressed four areas which were structural reconfiguration, religious orders, Spiritual movements, and political dimensions. These results are considered largely positive.

What is the difference between the Catholic Reformation and the Counter Reformation?

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Catholic AnswerThe main effect of the "reformation" or protestant revolt was the loss of thousands of souls who, because of their princes, were denied the sacraments that Jesus Christ had established for their salvation. This resulted, over the centuries that followed in the loss of millions of souls. The counter-reformation or Catholic reform was reform in the Catholic Church both in its head and members, resulting in great growth, numerous saints, new religious orders, new colleges, seminaries, better educated clergy, and a vibrant lay faithful.

from the Catholic Encyclopedia

The term Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648. The name, though long in use among Protestant historians, has only recently been introduced into Catholic handbooks. The consequence is that it already has a meaning and an application, for which a word with a different nuance should perhaps have been chosen. For in the first place the name suggests that the Catholic movement came after the Protestant; whereas in truth the reform originally began in the Catholic Church, and Luther was a Catholic Reformer before he became a Protestant. By becoming a Protestant Reformer, he did indeed hinder the progress of the Catholic reformation, but he did not stop 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.

What was the most significant event of the counter reformation?

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The Counter Reformation is also known as the Catholic Revival. The main parts of the reformation are religious orders and spiritual movements.

What actions did the Catholic Church take against the counter reformation?

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Catholic AnswerThe Catholic Reform (know to seculars and protestant historians as the counter-reformation) revitalized the Church in head and members. It overhauled the clerical educational system after the obvious and appalling lack of education in Martin Luther became glaringly apparent to anyone who could read. It sponsored new religious orders, including the Jesuits and the Discalced Carmelites, and spawned many great saints.

from the Catholic Encyclopedia

The term Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648. The name, though long in use among Protestant historians, has only recently been introduced into Catholic handbooks. The consequence is that it already has a meaning and an application, for which a word with a different nuance should perhaps have been chosen. For in the first place the name suggests that the Catholic movement came after the Protestant; whereas in truth the reform originally began in the Catholic Church, and Luther was a Catholic Reformer before he became a Protestant. By becoming a Protestant Reformer, he did indeed hinder the progress of the Catholic reformation, but he did not stop 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.

Who was leader of the Catholic Church during the Counter Reformation?

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Pope Paul III

Roman Catholic AnswerThe Counter Reformation ran from 1522 to about 1648. During that time the following men held the office of Supreme Pontiff, leading the Church; although Pope St. Pius V was probably the most famous as he issued the Catechism and the reform of the Mass:

Adrian VI

Clement VIII

Paul III

Julius III

Marcellus II

Paul IV

Pius IV

St. Pius V

Gregory XIII

Sixtus V

Urban VII

Gregory XIV

Innocent IX

Clement VIII

Leo XI

Paul V

Gregory XV

Urban VIII

Innocent X

How was the reformation different from the counter-reformation?

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First of all, for a Catholic what you are calling the reformation is known as the protestant revolt, it was certainly NOT a reformation, it was just several individuals (notably Henry VIII and Martin Luther) having too much pride, and affection for their personal favorite sins over affection for the Gospel and Christ's Church. What protestants and secular scholars refer to as the counter-reformation is known as the Catholic Reform. Below are the definitions for the two terms from Fr. Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary.

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

Reformation. A religious, social, and political upheaval (1517-1648) that divided Western Christendom and created world Protestantism. Its causes were manifold; weakening of papal authority through long residence in France and the worldliness of some popes; disloyalty to Rome of many bishops who were really temporal rulers; excessive reservation of ecclesiastical appointments to the Roman Curia; intellectual and moral unfitness of many priests; wealth of some of the monasteries and dissension in their ranks; superstition and ignorance among the laity; social unrest brought on by the disintegration of the feudal system; support given by political power to dissenters in the Church; unrest and secularism brought on by the new geographical discoveries; and the use of the printing press to propagate the new views. The effects of the Reformation have been far-reaching: Christian unity was shattered, personal liberty in religion affected every sphere of human activity, with the rise of the modern secular state, of capitalism as rugged individualism, and with the loss of the cultural solidarity, founded on a common faith, that had shaped Western civilization for almost a millennium.

Counter Reformation. 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.

What was the goal of the counter reformation in the new world?

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The Catholic Counter-Reformation was in response to the Protestant Reformation. Its goal was to reform the Catholic Church from within.

Explain How the Reformation led to the counter-reformation?

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The reformation was a time when the Catholic church was being increasingly challenged and resisted against. Areas, especially ones further away from Rome were gradually converting to Protestantism. This effort was furthered by a German monk named Martin Luther, who wrote 95 theses that criticized the actions of the Catholic church, particularly the acceptance of indulgences (people would pay the clergy so that they and their relatives would have to spend less time in purgatory). This effort was also furthered by the invention of the printing press, which allowed things to be printed and distributed en masse. Martin Luther translated the bible from Latin so that people could read it for themselves and draw their own conclusions about it, there were also prints (drawings) distributed that depicted the clergy as monstrosities. Of course, the Catholic church and pope wanted to resist against the reformation and draw people back to Catholicism, their efforts to bring people back constitute the counter-reformation.

Who was active in the Catholic Reformation also known as the Counter Reformation?

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Catholic Answer

The "counter reformation" is the secular and protestant term for the Catholic reform, of which many great saints and religious orders emerged:

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.

Did the Counter Reformation fail?

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The Counter-Reformation, i.e. in response purely to the Protestant Reformation, was not a great success, as few lands were won back to the Catholic Church during the period 1555-1648, even during the Thirty-Years war when there were good opportunities. The Catholic Reformation, or Catholic Revival, on the other hand was. By the end of the period there was a stronger papacy, and a reduction in the secularisation of the clergy. Nepotism had all but been abolished, pluralism was, and the Jesuits and some of the older orders had won new converts in the New Worlds. The clergy were being better educated in how to lead the laity, and the laity in what their faith was about, as a result of seminaries and a catechism programme respectively.

Why did the Catholic leaders feel the need to launch the Counter-Reformation?

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Roman Catholic AnswerTo combat the errors of protestantism and to try and save the souls who were being led away from Christ's Church and the sacraments He instituted for their sanctification and salvation.

What is the Counter-Reformation?

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The Counter Refomation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the thrty year war. The reform included the foundation of seminaries for the proper training of priestes in the Spititual life and the theological traditions of the church. It return order to their spiritual foundations and new spirtiual movements focusing on the devoional life and personal relationship with Christ.

Who led the Catholic Counter Reformation?

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This is a huge subject, I shall try to highlight some things that you can look for, but WikiAnswers is hardly the suitable place to fully answer such a question. First of all, I would suggest two books, both excellent, Diane Moczar’s book, Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know, and James Hitchcock’s book, History of the Catholic Church From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium.

There is much background material covered in both, especially concerning the “coldness” which had settled into society and religion for two centuries before the protestant catastrophe.

It wasn't so much the conduct of the Church, although the conduct of individuals - from Popes to laity - certainly played a part in it. But it was a whole host of factors including several major famines, the Black Death (starting around 1350), the Avignon Papacy ( 1378 - 1417: The Great Schism when the Pope moved to Avignon, and no one knew who the real Pope was. For most of this period there were two claimants to the Papal throne, near the end of it, three. This threw Christendom into crisis with the end result of greatly weakening the Papacy and contributing to the protestant revolt a hundred years later.

That and the rise of heresies including those of the Bohemia, John Hus, the heresy of Nominalism. And then there was the rise of Renaissance thought. Originally Renaissance thought saw the good in the Greek and Latin classics and tried to bring them into the Christian present. Thomas Aquinas has done a magnificent job of this earlier in the 13th century with Aristotle, on whom he based his classic Summa Theologiae which is still used to this day in teaching theology. But later Renaissance intellectuals had a whole different mind set and through their fascination with pagan ideas, they adopted the worldly outlook of their writers.

Finally there was the rise of the business culture and the love of money - the root of all evil according to the Sacred Scriptures. The love of money and business became prevalent in this era wiping out the great Age of Faith that had just ended.).
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Then the heresy of Conciliarism (following the Great Schism, Council of Pisa 1409 (which did not end the Schism), Council of Constance (1414-1418 which did end the Schism but claimed superiority over the Pope), Council of Basel (1431-1449), according to which a Church council was a higher authority than the pope (this Council “fell apart”) and finally the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517) which ended the heresy of Conciliarism and started modest Church reform. Then there was the coldness that was seeping into religious life, which was first noticed by St. Francis of Assisi. The collect from the Tridentine liturgy for the Feast of St. Francis on September 17 refers to this growing coldness:

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, when the world was growing cold, didst renew the sacred marks of Thy passion in the flesh of the most blessed Francis, to inflame our hearts with the fire of Thy love, graciously grant that by His merits and prayers we may continually bear the cross and bring forth fruits worthy of penance.

There, of course, are many more reasons in these two centuries that led to the protestant revolt, I would suggest that you pick up Diane Moczar's book, Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know, and read chapter the chapter headed 1517 AD The Protestant Catastrophe.
Probably the single biggest behavior that effected the Church in the Late Middle Ages was the Great Schism, which ran from 1378 to 1417. This was known as the Avignon Papacy,
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from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957

The Great Schism, otherwise know as the Schism of the West was not strictly a schism at all but a conflict between the two parties within the Church each claiming to support the true pope. Three months after the election of Urban VI, in 1378, the fifteen electing cardinals declared that they had appointed him only as a temporary vicar and that in any case the election was invalid as made under fear of violence from the Roman mob. Urban retorted by naming twenty-eight new cardinals, and the others at once proceeded to elect Cardinal Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII, who went to reside at Avignon. The quarrel was in its origin not a theological or religious one, but was caused by the ambition and jealousy of French influence, which was supported to some extent for political reasons by Spain, Naples, Provence, and Scotland; England, Germany, Scandinavia, Wales, Ireland, Portugal, Flanders and Hungary stood by what they believe to be the true pope at Rome. The Church was torn from top to bottom by the schism, both sides in good faith (it was impossible to know to whom allegiance was due), which lasted with its two lines of popes (and at one time three) till the election of Martin V in 1417. It is now regarded as practically certain that the Urbanist popes were the true ones and their names are included in semi-official lists; moreover, the ordinal numbers of the Clementine claimants (who, however, are not called anti-popes,) were adopted by subsequent popes of the same name.


Extracted from What Every Catholic Wants to Know Catholic History from the Catacombs to the Reformation, by Diane Moczar, c 2006 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

The five key elements that made up the "medieval synthesis" were:

- The harmony between Faith and reason.
- The balance of power among nation-states as parts of Christendom
- The balancing of the authority of the king with local self-government.
- The harmony between the goals of individual self-fulfillment and those of society.
- The equilibrium - and an uneasy one, it is true - between Church and state.
In the fourteenth century everything started to fall apart beginning with famine and plague. Cold, wet weather between 1315 and 1322 brought ruined crops in northern Europe and the resulting famine produced mass starvation, the mortality rate was as high as ten percent. But within 25-20 years the Black Death struck Europe. Between 1347-1350 an estimate average of thirty percent of the population on the continent died. In some cases, the death toll was much higher. It returned again in 1363 and would recur periodically for the next three centuries. All of this caused social friction and rebellions, not to mention some bizarre heresies. In addition to all of this the Hundred Years's War began, the Ottoman Turks began their onslaught of Europe, and the Papacy was going through many troubles beginning with the Avignon papacy. All of this set the stage, so to speak for the protestant catastrophe.

Which brings us to the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1519) the first serious, official attempt to reform the Church. Giles of Viterbo, the general of the Augustinians was the most prominent Church member and he took the popes to task for most of the current abuses in the Church, although he put great hope in Leo X (1513-1521) who had succeeded Pope Julius II (who had called the Council).

The Lateran Council issued a whole laundry list of abuses that they wanted to end, including “worldly prelates, bishops neglecting their responsibilities, and cardinals living away from Rome. The Council Fathers castigated the clergy for irregular ways of attaining benefices, nepotism, and unchastity. It condemned Averroism . . and even established Catholic pawn shops under Church auspices, to provide affordable loans to the poor.”

For a complete detailing of the Catholic reformation please see Chapter 9 from Hitchcock’s book History of the Catholic Church.

What actions did the followers of the Reformation and catholic counter reformation?

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There have never been two movements in history more mis-named than the "Reformation" and the "Counter-Reformation". The Reformation, more properly understood as the Revolt against the Catholic Church was certainly not a reformation of Christianity, but a whole new religion based on a few individuals' interpretations of what they think Jesus Christ should have done rather than what He did do.

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The term "Counter-Reformation" makes it sound like something in reponse to the Revolt against the Catholic Church, but in truth, the Catholic Reformation had already begun before Martin Luther decided to leave his Religious Order and abandon his solemn life-long vows without even seeking permission.

The Protestant Catastrophe

The events and causes that led up to the Catholic Reform and the protestant revolt were manifold and stretched over the two centuries prior to Martin Luther posting his famous 95 Theses. These are seen by some Catholic historians as divine chastisements. For a more complete discussion of all of this, please get Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know by Diane Moczar, you may view it at the link below.

A massive famine struck Europe in 1315 and continued to 1322, causing mass starvation in northern Europe. That was followed by seven other famines in southern France in the same century. And that was only the beginning, it was shortly followed by the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, the papal catastrophe in the Avignon Papacy, known as the Great Schism, and the heresy of Conciliarism which taught that a Church council was a higher authority than the pope.

In addition there was the coldness that was seeping into society which had previously been totally devoted to religion. Late Medieval society had gone commercial to such an extent that they began to keep two sets of books, one for God and one for themselves. On fifteenth-century merchant headed the pages of his ledger, "In the name of God and profit."

One interesting sign of this spiritual chill, as Ms. Moczar puts it, was the fact that the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 had to require reception of Holy Communion at least once a year under pain of mortal sin. As she puts it: "That this central expression of Catholic piety, not to mention inexpressible privilege, should have to be made an obligation rather than naturally be considered a joy shows us again how religious fervor had diminished.

Also, many intellectuals were enamored of the new philosophy of Nominalism put out by William of Ockham, which subverted the great scholastic synthesis of faith and reason by destroying its philosophic foundation in Aristotelian realism.

Finally, the later Renaissance, (late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) finished off Medieval civilization with individualism fueled by such writers as Pico della Mirandola, Machiavelli, and others.

The entire conventual wisdom about the corruption of the Catholic Church leading to dissatisfaction with the Catholic faith and leading to a simple monk (Martin Luther) standing up to the Church and trying to reinstate the simple faith of the apostles is so much bunk which has been swallowed whole by too many for too long. I should recommend the book entitled The European Reformation by Euan Cameron put out by Oxford University Press for anyone interested in the real story.

The above was extracted mostly from Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know by Diane Moczar, c 2005 by Diane Moczar, Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, NH 03108.

from the Catholic Encyclopedia The term Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648. The name, though long in use among Protestant historians, has only recently been introduced into Catholic handbooks. The consequence is that it already has a meaning and an application, for which a word with a different nuance should perhaps have been chosen. For in the first place the name suggests that the Catholic movement came after the Protestant; whereas in truth the reform originally began in the Catholic Church, and Luther was a Catholic Reformer before he became a Protestant. By becoming a Protestant Reformer, he did indeed hinder the progress of the Catholic reformation, but he did not stop it.from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957The 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.