Catholic Church Reformation Research Paper

In the the Catholic Church in Europe during the sixteenth century many reforms were needed. There were many issues including the incompetency of priests, and clerical immorality and absenteeism. Additionally, because of these predicaments people began to not only question the teachings of the church, they questioned the authority of the church as well. Initially, the Papacy was reluctant for reform to occur. The Papacy did not want to lose power or wealth and believed that they may if reforms ensued. However, with the election of Pope Paul III the papal court became the center of the Reformation. In Europe during the Catholic Reformation in the sixteenth century there were many accomplishments and downfalls that occurred for various reasons.

The Reformation revived faith and piety. Furthermore, the Council of Trent was established. The job of the Council of Trent was to reform the Catholic Church and rectify with the Protestants. This laid a solid foundation for spiritual renewal and gave validity to the Scriptures and tradition as sources of religious truth and jurisdiction. Also, the Council of Trent reaffirmed the seven sacraments and transubstantiation. Moreover, pluralism was suppressed and the sale of indulgences was forbidden. The selling of church offices also came to an end. In addition, marital vows had to be given before a priest and witnesses to ensure the legitimacy of the marriage. Another reform that was of utmost importance was the education and election of the clergy. The moral and intellectual levels of the clergy and people were raised, not to mention that the selection of the clergy was done more carefully to certify that they were qualified for the position. The Ursuline order of Nuns was founded by Angela Merici to re-christianize society by educating women and training future wives and mothers. Of equal importance was the formation of the Society of Jesus founded by Ignatius Loyola. Members of the Society of Jesus were called Jesuits. They had an influential role in strengthening Catholicism in Europe and in spreading its message around the world. One reason for this was the willingness of Jesuits to travel anywhere to

For instance, the Catholic Church was unable to completely eliminate Protestants from Europe. The Roman Catholic Church existed in some states in Europe but the states that had adopted Protestantism remained. In addition, the Sacred Congregation of Holy Office was formed by Pope Paul III. They had command over the Roman Inquisition. The purpose of the Inquisition was to suppress Lutheran heretics. It was composed of six cardinals who were granted the power to arrest, imprison and execute suspected heretics. The cardinals had judicial power over all Catholics except for the Pope. The Inquisition attacked heretics using any means necessary, even torture was allowed. Heretics in high ranks were punished most severely. Around the same time, the Index of Prohibited books was published. This contained books that no faithful Catholic was allowed read. The Index had little impact outside of the Papal States. The Inquisition and Index were destructive of people’s personal religious experiences. In summary, there were deteriorations within the Catholic Church throughout the