Catholic Counter Reformation Research Paper

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The Catholic Counter Reformation: Its Fight to Save Catholicism

The Catholic Counter Reformation, also known as the Catholic Revival, was an effort taken by the Roman Catholic Church to counteract the effects of the Protestant Reformation and keep it from spreading. The reformation begun by the Protestants aimed to change the inner workings of the Catholic Church, while the Counter Reformation aimed to keep practices and procedures the same. The Counter Reformation took place between the 16th and 17th centuries and began shortly after the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
The request and calling for reforming of the Catholic Church began with concerns about corruption of the popes, clergy, and many of the church’s policies. Religious groups such as the Theatines, the Capuchins, the Ursulines, and the Society of Jesus are all branches of Catholicism that were formed to solve minor issues in the church …show more content…

Pope Paul III, the first pope of the Counter Reformation, was the first to address the issue of Protestants. He formed the Council of Trent in 1545. The council focused on teaching against the Lutheran belief of faith and the Protestant teachings on the amount and purpose of the sacraments. There was an attempt to illuminate the corruption of clergy through disciplinary reforms and better the schooling of potential priests. Actions were also taken against clergymen living too extravagantly and being appointed into church offices by relatives.
The Roman Inquisition was created in 1542 in order to fight heresy. This act controlled both doctrine and practice more successfully than in other countries due to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church had more power in Rome than it did elsewhere. The involvement of politics and military with the policies of Emperor Charles V and Philip II against Protestants were more effective in other

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