Life Night: Protestant Reformation & Counter Reformation

The Protestant Reformation

and Counter Reformation of the Catholic Church

            The Protestant Reformation was the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestant Reformers. Although there had been significant attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church before Luther, he is typically cited as the man who set the religious world aflame in 1517 with his Ninety-Five Theses. Luther started by criticizing the selling of indulgences, insisting that the pope had no authority over purgatory and that the Catholic doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel. The attacks widened to cover many of the doctrines and devotional Catholic practices.

            The Reformation movement within Germany diversified almost immediately, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The largest groupings were the Lutherans and Calvinists (or Reformed). The National Church of England (Anglicans/Episcopalians) was made independent under King Henry VIII in the early 1530s. There were also reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation which gave rise to the Anabaptist, Moravian, and other pietistic movements.

            The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent. Much hard work in battling Protestantism was done by many saints who worked tirelessly to reform from the inside and repair relations on the outside:

• St. Ignatius of Loyola - Society of Jesus 1537, Jesuits took up the cause through Catholic renewal and by defending the Church against those who worked against her.
• St. Charles Borromeo - Trent called for reform in the Papacy, Cardinals, Bishops, and all clergy. It also made many important decrees on things such as Sacraments, absenteeism, Purgatory, Saints, relics, and salvation- all upholding what the Church has always believed and denying what the Protestant Reformation was saying.
• In 1529 Thomas More worked to keep England part of the Roman Catholic Church but was beheaded in the Tower of London on July 6, 1534. King Henry VIII divorced Catherine, was remarried to Ann Boleyn, and broke from the Catholic Church denying the authority of the Pope and declaring himself as head of the Church of England.
• St. Francis de Sales - A pivotal figure in the history of the Catholic Counter Reformation because of his tireless devotion and unwavering faith to Christ and the Church. He is well known for his writings and his gentle, yet impassioned, way of encouraging souls to strive for holiness.
• St. Teresa of Avila did not necessarily actively engage in checking the spread of Protestantism, but she reformed her own Carmelite order. In effect, she took to heart the abuses and corruptions pointed out by the Protestant Reformers, and began to set them aright.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation 

http://www.catecheticsonline.com/Saints/ignatius.php

http://ascentofcarmel.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-10-saints-of-counter-reformation.html