The Counter Reformation and Catholic Mass

The members of the Council of Trent realized the unfair abuses of the church, and called for reform. In this way, they were protecting themselves against criticism from Protestant reformers. A drastic reform of monastic orders was launched. The council acted against the abuse of indulgences while still upholding the principle. This meant that indulgences could not just be sold; indulgences were granted when an individual did something truly good. Also, bishops were to reside in their respective dioceses and attend more carefully to their duties, exercising more control over clergy. Pluralism was checked and steps were taken to make sure church officials were eligible for the job. In order to have an educated clergy, the council ordered that a seminary be set up in each diocese for priest training. More careful steps were to be taken to ensure the celibacy of clergy. The Council of Trent was able to eliminate many abuses of the

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation in western and central Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. This was a debate over the Christian religion. At the time there was a difference in power. Roman Catholicism stands with the Pope as central and appointed by God. Luther’s arguments referred to a direct relationship with God and using the local vernacular to speak to the people. Luther’s arguments remove the absolute power from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church in general. The revenue from the taxes paid to the Church would be reduced with Luther’s ideas, in part because of

In the 16th century intellectual, religious, cultural, and political views divided Catholic Europe and caused the Protestant Reformation. The way things turned out still effect and determine the structures and beliefs to this day. People like John Calvin, Henry VIII, and Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church on how it delivers Christian views. They disagreed on how the religious and political power was being distributed into the hands of the Bible. The argument began wars, persecutions and a Counter Reformation. Most historians usually believe that the start of the Protestant Reformation was around 1517 when Martin Luther published “95 Theses”. The ending is anywhere from 1555 which would allow the coexistence of Catholicism

The protestant reformation was a significant turning point during the 16th century that completely revolutionized the Roman Catholic Church. The “reformation” was launched in 1517 when a German monk by the name of Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses” on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. The main ideas of this publication was that selling and buying indulgences was wrong and that the pope has no power over purgatory. These 95 revolutionary opinions formed the basis for the protestant reformation which revolutionized western civilization over the next three centuries. Although most people believe these reforms only affected religion, the reformation also impacted political life. Politics played an enormous role in the reformation due to the fact that political rulers wanted to extend their power and control using the church. Throughout the course of the protestant reformation, political authorities such as Emperor Charles V and Henry

Catholic or Counter-Reformation: This Event is the Catholic fighting the Reformation by making a council, Council of Trent, and ever starting a war to solve the

As means to start such reform, Pope Paul III, initiated The Council of Trent. The gathering amongst high-ranking churchmen took place from 1545-1563 and was held for two primary purposes. The council was mustered to determine a plan to combat Protestantism and how Catholics would compromise with them and to reform the Catholic Church by clarification of the doctrine and define the central articles of faith. Through The Council of Trent, the strength of the Catholic doctrine increased, and there became a higher stress placed on the importance of the visual arts. The council was successful in developing a doctrine that outlined the difference between Protestantism and Catholicism and created

Until Vatican II the Church was split into may different factions and each was set in its own belief that they were the ‘one’ true church. After the council however, compromises and cooperation began to develop between the many denominations toward building the Christian community as a whole. Official documents concerning the liturgy and social communication were adopted during this session. The third session began on September 14, 1964 and ended on November 21, 1964 (Rynne 291). A select few religious and lay women were invited to this third session in order to incorporate different sections of the church. Ecumenism, Eastern Rite churches, and the constitution of the Church, missions, and ministries of priests were such topics discusses during this period. The fourth and last, period began on September 14, 1965 and ended on December 8, 1965 (Rynne 450). Issues considered during this period included education, laity (distinguished people not of the clergy), bishops, and religious orders. At the close of the council, the pope declared a jubilee, and asked Catholics to read and study the constitutions and decrees of the council and apply them to their spiritual lives.

Long before the reformation period,people within the church, both clergy and lay were keen for the church to eliminate all corrupt practices and for a reform,which would bring everyone closer to God. Those high up in church authority had ignored the concerns made by these reformers because they were personally gaining from practices like indulgences. However the sixteenth century split of protestant from the Catholic church became obvious and brought about bad publicity towards the church as the loss of members was a large concern, putting them under pressure to reform itself properly. The church responded in a very serious matter which resulted in the church starting

The thirty years war was yet another example of religious strife in Europe. Rudolf II the ruler of Bohemia tolerated Protestants in his country, but his successor Ferdinand II did not and pushed the work of the counter reformation. The Bohemians rebelled, and Ferdinand exiled and executed them. They were told to register and sell their property and leave within fourteen days to "prevent further trouble and embarrassment." (Dietrich). When the truce between Spain and the Dutch ended, fighting in Germany and the Netherlands resumed. Ferdinand then issued the Edict of Nantes (which he would later suspend due to opposition by nobles), which gave Catholics back all their land that the Protestants had taken. France then entered the war, seizing the opportunity to attack their opposing Catholic power, the Hapsburgs. They also attacked Ferdinand. One third of Germany's total population was killed, but this was not the

By the late 1500s, Christian denominations had been popping up all over Europe. This was in response to the reports of indulgences (selling of freedom from purgatory), clerical immorality, abuse of money, along with many other bad actions that were rampant among the Church. It was these problems that Luther and others rebelled and created their own religions. With the rising of these Reformation movements, the Church needed to make some reforms itself. These reforms took the form of educating the clergy, opening monasteries, the Inquisition, and the organizing of councils. In fact, even though Protestant attacks brought these reforms, many of these reforms were needed anyway. The problems in the Church were so bad that the Church would not

Success of the Council of Trent in the years 1545-1563 in Tackling the Problems Confronting the Catholic Church

Athanasius, Pope Leo XIII, and the Council of Florence all have had significant impacts on the Church throughout history. St. Athanasius aided in the eradication of Arianism, an early Church heresy that taught that Jesus was not divine, and The Life of Saint Anthony was a key component to establishing monasticism in the Church. Pope Leo XIII promoted Catholic social teaching by encouraging increased social justice among Catholics and all people of the world. He also moved the Church into the modern era, preparing it for the aggiornamento movement of the Second Vatican Council, in his encyclical Rerum novarum. The Council of Florence addressed the split between the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic Churches, and although the reunification result was brief, the Church had successfully performed ecumenism for the first time since 1054. Additionally, several doctrines and Church beliefs of the Council of Florence that pertained to the future Reformation would be used in the Counter-Reformation movement at the Council of Trent. The practices developed in the council and the examples of these two remarkable people provide us with a strong set of principles on which we should base our lives to better the

The renaissance period marked radical changes in many fields, this includes religion. The so-called Protestant Reformation was the split within western Christian Church initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants. Calls for reform came form all sectors of the European society and it is this dissatisfaction that explains why the ideas of Martin Luther evoked such extreme responses, there was already a ready audience. Although there had been significant attempts at reform before Luther, the date usually given for the start of the Protestant Reformation is 1517, when Luther published The Ninety-Five Theses. As he developed his ideas, Luther gathered followers, who came to be called Protestants. The word protestant

The Council of Trent was fairly important in its role of stratifying the Christian Church. The council occurred over a period of nearly 20 years in Italy and was initiated by the Roman Catholic Church. There were a number of points of contention that the council was able to satisfy with other components of Christianity, namely those pertaining to the Protestant movement that was still relatively new at the time. Essentially, the council was able to formalize proceedings and practices for several sacraments and other conceptions of Christianity including notions of original sin and the Eucharist.

The attendant effects of Martin Luther’s reformation in the early period of the sixteenth century occasioned by his posting of the 95 theses that raised objections to some of the then prevalent practices of the Roman Catholic Church eventually led to a significant breakaway from the church of a relatively more liberal Christian sect known as the “Protestant”. It is worthy of note however that the Roman Catholic Church tried albeit unsuccessfully to placate the breakaway by instituting a “counter-Reformation” but this only achieved a cleansing of the church internally without achieving much in its most important mandate to prevent the protestant breakaway. Consequently, Europe was enmeshed in bloody religious war largely between forces loyal to the papacy in Rome and those who sympathized with the runaway protestant movement. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church invariably began to lose its pole position in the scheme of things in an already divided Europe.