Counter Reformation

Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was a movement within the Catholic Church to reform itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. It involved clarification and reform in the areas of doctrine, ecclesiastical structure, religious orders, spirituality, and politics. Such reforms included the foundation of seminaries for the proper training of priests in the spiritual life and the theological traditions of the Church, the reform of religious life to returning orders to their spiritual foundations, and new spiritual movement's focus on the devotional life and a personal relationship with Christ.

Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation, also called the Catholic Reformation, is the name given to the movement created within the Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation that began with Martin Luther in 1517. The Protestant Reformation led to the separation of the Protestant churches from the Roman Catholic Church. It is usually said to have started when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the cathedral in Wittenburg, Germany calling for a discussion of "false doctrines" and "malpractices" within the Catholic Church as he saw them. These included the sale of indulgences and the doctrine underlying them, as well as the powers of the Pope. He had not, however, intended to create a rival church.

Luther was supported by several European leaders and religious provoking a religious revolution that began in Germany, and extending through Switzerland, France, Netherlands, England, Scandinavia and some parts of Eastern Europe, especially the Baltic countries and Hungary. The response of the Roman Catholic Church was the movement known as the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation.

In 1543, the Roman Catholic Church convened the Council of Trent and established among other measures, the resumption of the Court of the Holy Office (Inquisition), the creation of the "Index Librorum Prohibitorum" with a list of books banned by...