Counter-Reformation

The Protestant Reformation inspired a counter-Reformation, or Catholic Revival. The Counter Reformation took place during roughly the same period as the Protestant Reformation. Calls for reform within the Roman Church grew out of criticism of the worldly attitudes and policies of the Renaissance popes and many of the clergy. 

New religious orders and other groups were founded to effect a religious renewal—e.g., the Theatines, the Capuchins, the Ursulines, and especially the Jesuits. Later in the century, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Ávila promoted the reform of the Carmelite order and influenced the development of the mystical tradition. St. Francis of Sales had a similar influence on the devotional life of the laity.

There was little significant papal reaction to the Protestants or to demands for reform from within the Roman Catholic Church before mid-century. Pope Paul III (reigned 1534–49) is considered to be the first pope of the Counter-Reformation. It was he who in 1545 convened the Council of Trent. The council, which met intermittently until 1563, responded emphatically to the issues at hand. Its doctrinal teaching was a reaction against the Lutheran emphasis on the role of faith and God’s grace and against Protestant teaching on the number and nature of the sacraments. 

Disciplinary reforms attacked the corruption of the clergy. There was an attempt to regulate the training of candidates for the priesthood; measures were taken against luxurious living on the part of the clergy, the appointment of relatives to church office, and the absence of bishops from their dioceses. Prescriptions were given about pastoral care and the administration of the sacraments.