CATHOLIC REFORMATION

Toward the end of the Middle Ages, many people became

unhappy with the behavior of high-ranking officials in the Catholic
Church. At the same time, many Christians were searching for
new ways to express their devotion to God. Their concerns
triggered a movement for reform.
Complaints about church officials were widespread in the 1400s.
Some of the most common charges were that church officials
ignored church laws; that popes were corrupt; that cardinals lived
in luxury; and that bishops did not reside within their dioceses*.
Several councils in the 1400s and early 1500s attempted to
address these problems. However, many officials—especially the
popes—did not support reforms.
Meanwhile, many Christians craved better ways of expressing
their faith. In the Netherlands, a movement called the devotion
moderna encouraged people to form religious communities like
those within the early Christian church. Mystics* recorded their
experiences of an intimate union with God. Humanists* like
Desiderius Erasmus called for changes in the way the Catholic
faith was taught, studied, and practiced.
COUNTER-REFORMATION
In 1517 a German monk named Martin Luther challenged
the Roman Catholic Church on many points of doctrine. For
example, he argued that only the grace of God could save people
from punishment after death and that human actions could not
lead to salvation. He also based his theology* on the Bible rather
than on the traditions and practices of the church. Luther's actions
marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation*. The rapid
growth of Protestantism alarmed Catholics, and they demanded
that church leaders deal with the situation.

The Council of Trent. After many delays, Pope Paul III called
bishops and religious scholars together at the Council of Trent.
The council, which held three sessions between 1545 and 1563,
had two central tasks. The first was to address Protestant
teachings that questioned the Roman Catholic Church. The pope
considered this issue the council's highest priority. The second
was to reform the church, especially the papacy*. The council's
internal conflicts made these difficult tasks nearly impossible.
The council responded to Protestant teachings by affirming
traditional Catholic beliefs. It addressed Luther's Bible-based
theology by stating that Christians should base their religious
views both on the Bible and on the spiritual authority of the
Catholic Church. After discussing Luther's teachings on salvation,
the council announced that God's grace was the most important
factor, but that humans have some responsibility for their own
salvation. The council also defended the Catholic position on
other questions of theology.
The council also made efforts to reform church offices. It passed
new laws requiring bishops to live in their dioceses and pastors to
live in their parishes. In addition, it required each bishop to
operate a seminary, a school to train future priests, in his diocese.
However, the pope's representatives in the council blocked any
attempts to reform the papacy. In fact, the papacy ended up with
even more power when it became responsible for interpreting and
enforcing the council's new laws.

The Papacy. Popes continued to take the lead in fighting the

spread of Protestantism throughout the 1500s. In 1559 Pope Paul
IV became the first pope to publish an Index of Prohibited Books,
a list of books Catholics were not allowed to read without the
permission of a bishop. When religious wars broke out in Europe
in the mid-1500s, popes began to supply Catholic armies with
troops and weapons, as well as spiritual support, in their battles
against Protestant states. Realizing that the Protestants
challenged their power, many Catholics stopped criticizing the
pope in a show of unity. Pope Sixtus V (ruled 1585–1590) took
this opportunity to strengthen his curia, the body that helped him
govern the church.
The papacy also became more visible in Catholic teachings.
Before the Reformation, Catholic catechisms* did not mention the
papacy. Most European Christians probably had no idea that the
pope was an important part of their religion. When Protestants
began to challenge the pope's authority, the Catholic Church
quickly reformed its catechisms to make the pope part of the
definition of the church. Catholics began to define themselves as
papists, followers of the pope.
Local Authorities. Important as the pope was, local authorities
had a much greater effect on individual Catholics. By the end of
the 1500s, high church officials had formed partnerships with the
monarchs in Catholic countries. Local bishops also assumed
stronger roles in their religious communities. The most important
of these men was Carlo Borromeo, the archbishop of Milan.
Borromeo studied the decrees of the Council of Trent and
published his own set of rules and regulations, known as Acts of
the Church of Milan (1582). This influential book established
codes of conduct for both Catholic clergy and laypeople*.

Keeping the Faith. Reform-minded Catholics were committed to

fighting ignorance and superstition among their members. This
battle took many forms. During the late 1500s, bishops and
pastors began to give more attention to their sermons than ever
before. Humanism* played a strong role in this golden age of
Catholic preaching, promoting a belief in the power of the spoken
word. Religious orders such as the Jesuits* established networks
of schools for boys, which taught both Catholicism and humanist
studies.
Catholics worked to spread their beliefs in the 1500s. In new
"Schools of Christian Doctrine," Catholic laypeople used the
catechism to teach boys and girls the basics of their religion.
Before the Protestant Reformation, the schools' goal was to
instruct students about how to practice their religion. By the end of
the 1500s, however, the schools were teaching students how to
understand and defend their Catholic beliefs. Overseas, large
numbers of Catholic missionaries tried to bring their faith to
cultures in newly discovered lands—by force if necessary.
The Catholic Church strengthened its identity by showing a
renewed interest in its traditions, especially those that Protestants
did not share. Some religious orders doubled in size between
1540 and 1700, and new orders sprang up at the same time. The
new male orders built some of Europe's most beautiful Catholic
churches. Church officials and Catholic royalty commissioned
religious artworks. Catholic scholars revived scholasticism, a
movement that blended Christian teachings with ancient
philosophy. Devotion to the saints regained popularity, and more
Catholics took up the old practice of making pilgrimages, or
journeys to sacred places.

Women and the Church. In the late 1500s, women took

increasingly active roles in the church. One of the most important
was Teresa of Ávila, who founded many convents and reformed
the Carmelite order of nuns. Another was Barbe-Jeanne Acarie,
who helped bring the Carmelites to France and who used her
house as a religious meeting place.
French nuns began to minister to the public in the 1600s. One of
their most important activities was the organization of schools for
girls. Other nuns worked outside their convents nursing the sick
and running hospitals.