Reformation History

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The Catholic reformation was a long period of history in which the Church dealt with many things - clergy education, the education and piety of the common people, reform of the clergy and religious, etc. The protestant "reformation" is a misnomer as the Catholic historians have always referred to is as the protestant revolt. Protestant takes it name from the fact that these people protested against the Church - and left it to form their own "churches" thus revolt. The Catholic Church reformed itself in removing abuses like ordaining men to the priesthood without adequate education (Martin Luther was a prime example of this), putting an end to bishops living outside of their dioceses, etc. It gave birth to an unbelievable number of great saints and new religious Orders. The protestant revolt succeeded only in removing huge numbers of people from the Church that Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, founded for their salvation, in cases like England, this involved whole countries being denied the sacraments by law.

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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

Catholic Reform 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.

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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.

When St. Ignatius and Pope Paul III formed the Society of Jesus in 1540, St. Ignatius conceived their purpose as twofold:

from Modern Catholic Dictionary

to strengthen and where necessary to restore the Catholic faith in the wake of the protestant reformation and to preach the Gospel in non-Christian lands. Typical of the first purpose was the establishment of colleges throughout Europe.

He believed that belief (and the grace of God) alone would get one into heaven. The Catholic church believed that faith which resulted in good works got you into heaven. Luther obviously disagreed. He also didn't like the selling of indulgences.

If you look at the history of the Catholic Church (not Christianity) it was going through a terrible period of corruption in his day and many honest Christians of the time saw this and decided that it had moved so far from Christ's teaching and example that reformation was needed. Martin Luther was the most articulate of these reformers.