The Reform of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe

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Recommended: The effect of the Protestant Reformation on Europe

Protestantism and the Protestant form of Christianity were established, and continued to gain momentum in the 1500’s mainly due to the overall discontent many Europeans had with the socio-economic and religious dealings of the Roman Catholic Church. This discontent eventually lead to the reform of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, and religious beliefs and attitudes became divided between northern and southern Europe.

This is a summary of the events that lead to this historic change in religious culture that would impact Christianity for the next 500 years and beyond.

By the late medieval period, many Europeans perceived the large amount of riches and land acquired by the Roman Catholic Church as unjust when compared to their own relatively poor standards of living. Europeans who followed the inner workings of the Roman Catholic Church were also troubled by the amount of importance the church placed on superstitious practices, such as the worship of false idols. According to Malloy (2010), significant relics venerated by the Catholic Church included the “bones of saints, and any object supposedly touched by Jesus or Mary or the saints. …Many of these items were not genuine” (384). Although earlier efforts to reform the Catholic Church were attempted, none were successful prior to the reform efforts of a priest named Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a German priest and college professor who understood the personal benefits of studying the bible, and was an avid believer in the idea that mans sins were washed away by Jesus sacrifice on the cross.

During the time that Luther was teaching, the Catholic Church was soliciting donations to construct a new St. Peters Basilica in Rome. The church promised favor to those wh...

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...em inside symbolic walls, established to strengthen the catholic religion against Protestantism, and other forms of non-traditional religious faiths.

The Catholic Churches reform efforts that occurred in response to the establishment of the Protestant Church resulted in the Catholic Church as the most influential Church in the world today. Hundreds of Thousands of people subscribe to the Catholic Religion and follow the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI. Although the Catholic Church survived the turbulent era in the 1500-1700’s, the Protestant faith is also firmly established and consists of many branches of churches throughout the world. These historic events that took place starting primarily with Martin Luther’s ideals, split Western Christianity into two separate religious faiths that are, and will continue to be, extremely influential throughout the world.

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