Counter Reformation Research Paper

Confronted with the surprising successes of the various Protestant groups, the Roman Catholic Church, as it was now called, struck back with a Counter-Reformation. The Counter-Reformation, with a revitalized papacy, new monastic orders, and a reforming council, confronted the Protestant threat, purified the church of abuses, and reorganized its structure.

By 1600 this organized campaign had slowed Protestantism and won back many adherents. The Catholics held on to southern and most of central Europe, halting Protestantism’s spread in Poland, France, and Switzerland and limiting the movement to northern Europe.

With the reign of Paul III, a series of reform-minded popes reinvigorated the church. Paul enlisted the support of the full church by convening a council representing Roman Catholic clergy from all over Europe and launched new monastic orders. A committee of churchmen drew up an Index of Forbidden Books, which listed writings that were off-limits to Roman Catholics because they were considered prejudicial to faith or morals.

The dedicated members helped make Roman Catholicism a global faith.

The Jesuits worked among the unchurched and the poor but soon became the Roman Catholic Church’s chief weapon against the Protestants. The Jesuits’ role in the Counter-Reformation expanded in the 1540s when they established missions in the Far East, converting thousands to the Roman Catholic faith. In 1535, Spain organized its vast overseas holdings into four or regional governments, which welcomed and protected the Jesuits and other Roman Catholic orders.

The Counter-Reformation’s third force was the council held at Trent in northern Italy, over three separate sessions between 1545 and 1563. Italian delegates, and the Jesuits, the Council of Trent offered no overtures to the Protestants and thus solidified the split in Christian