The Catholic Reformation

1
The Catholic Reformation

• Also known as the Counter-Reformation
• Led by reform-minded Pope Paul III
• Catholics decided to enact reforms to counter the
  growing Protestant power in the north
• Eliminate abuses, clarify theology, reestablish
  papal authority
• The Church responded to the Reformation in 2
  ways
• Reform the church from within
• Try to stop the spread of Protestantism

2
The Council of Trent

• Met in several sessions between 1545 and 1563
• Reaffirmed Catholic teachings
• Salvation comes through faith and works
• Church tradition is equal to the Bible as a
  source of religious truth
• The Latin Vulgate is the only acceptable version
  of scripture
• Declared Mass should only be said in Latin
• Corrected abuses
• Put an end to the sale of indulgences
• Each diocese had to establish a seminary to
  ensure a better educated clergy
• Simony outlawed
• Clergy cleansed of immorality

3
The Jesuits

• The church set out to win new converts
• 1540- the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), founded by
  Ignatius of Loyola
• Disciplined and well-educated order of priests
• Worked to spread Catholicism
• Strengthened Catholicism in southern Germany,
  Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary
• Won back areas from Lutheran control
• Carried message to Americas, Africa, and Asia
• Preached, helped poor, set up schools, founded
  universities

4
The Inquisition

• The Inquisition strengthened to deal with the
  Protestant threat
• Introduced censorship to stop the spread of
  humanist and Protestant thinking
• 1543, published the Index of Forbidden Books
• Catholics forbidden to read these books
• Protestant Bibles and Scientific Writings

5
Western European Religious Division

• HRE divided by Catholic south and Protestant
  north (Peace of Augsburg)
• 1500s-1600s- religious wars engulf Europe
• In France, bitter fighting between the Huguenots
  and Catholics
• St. Bartholomews Day Massacre