Counter-reform: what was it, context, measures

THE counter-reform it is understood as the reaction of the Catholic Church to the advance of Protestantism across Europe. It took place through a series of actions carried out by the Holy See, which included the catechization of people through the Jesuits, the reactivation of the court of the Inquisition, the banning of certain books etc. Some of the principles established for the reform of the Catholic Church were debated during the Council of Trent.

Accessalso: Waldenses – group excommunicated by the Catholic Church in the 12th century

Protestant Reformation

The actions that characterized the counter-reform began to be established in the 1530s, but took place mainly after the Council of Trent. The counter-reform is understood by most historians as a movementinreaction to the advance of the Protestantism on the European continent.

Protestantism emerged in Europe based on the criticisms made by the German monk Martin Luther through a letter written by him and known as 95 theses. The document written by Luther was intended to initiate a debate about the use of indulgences as a way to grant forgiveness for the sins of the faithful.

Luther was against this practice and felt that it was not the pope's attribute to force people to pay for forgiveness and salvation. His intuition was reformThechurch through the moralization of the practices of the clergy, and their action manifested a long-term dissatisfaction that existed against the abuses promoted by the Church of Rome.

In the course of events, Luther turned out to be excommunicated by Pope Leo X and was consideredheretic by Charles V, emperor of the holy empire. This repression of the reformer naturally led to his break with the Church, causing him to abandon his position in it. The theology developed on the basis of his ideas became known as Protestantism.

O Protestantism it spread across the continent for several factors involving economic, political and, of course, religious issues. O use of the press helped to spread German writings across the continent. The latent feeling of dissatisfaction of people with the Catholic Church made Protestantism gain a lot of space, especially in northern Europe.

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In addition, a series of derivations of Lutheran Protestantism, like the Calvinismit's the anglicanismgained strength. Thus, regions such as England, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, among others, witnessed a rapid growth of Protestant doctrines. The repression of Luther was a first reaction of the Church, but from the 1530s onwards it was necessary that more assertive measures be taken to guarantee the Catholic primacy over the Christianity. To learn more about this controversial and audacious religious movement, read: What was the Protestant Reformation?

Counter-Reform

Symbol of the Society of Jesus. The creation of this order is understood as one of the reactions to Protestantism.[1]

The counter-reform was the Catholic Church's Effort to Stop Protestantism and its advance through Europe. However, some historians point out that a reform in the Church conducted since the end of the 15th century, with Francisco de Cisneros, in Spain, being a case.

From Spain also came Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, better known here as the Jesuit Order. Some historians understand the Jesuits as a Catholic reaction against Protestantism. This interpretation was made because the Jesuits believed in the spread of Catholicism throughout the world through catechetical missions.

Other historians do not understand the foundation of the Jesuit Order, in 1535, as an event inserted in a relationship of cause and effect, with the cause being the Protestant reform, but they agree that their representatives played a fundamental role in strengthening the Catholic Church from the second half of the 16th century onwards, as they spread Catholicism throughout the world.

Pope Paul III was responsible for reactivating the Inquisition and for convoking the Council of Trent as ways to fight Protestantism.[2]

One of the measures taken for the reform of the Catholic clergy was the creating seminars that guaranteed a better formation of priests. Through this decision, it was defined that priests should study in seminaries and that their priesthood could only begin after completing 25 years of age. In addition, more energetic measures were taken, as the Pope Paul III, in 1542, started the InquisitionRoman, one of Rome's responses to the rise of Protestantism.

THE Inquisition it was an institution that promoted the persecutionto theheretics, and its performance was very strong between the 12th and 14th centuries, losing some of its strength during the 15th century. Through Pope Paul III, the Inquisition gained strength again and was used as a way of silencing those who did not profess Catholicism.

Accessalso: Inquisition in colonial Brazil – started in the 1590s

Council of Trent

The authorities of the Catholic Church met at the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1563.

A more effective action to stop the advance of Protestantism was through the Council of Trent, held in three cycles between 1545 and 1563. A council is a kind of assembly that brings together the highest authorities of the Church to promote discussion of important points of the Catholic faith.

Throughout history, several councils have taken place, and the Council of Trent was convened by Pope Paul III, and their meetings took place in 1545-1547, later 1551-1552 and finally in 1562-1563. During these sessions that spanned 18 years, a series of decisions were taken, some of which of them reinforced the principles and practices of Catholicism and others tried to establish ways to strengthen the fight against heresy.

First, the Council of Trent debated and reinforced some important doctrinal issues in Catholicism. Thus, issues such as original sin, the sacraments and issues relating to the ritual of the mass, for example, were dealt with. In this doctrinal question the principles of Protestantism were also analyzed, and they were again rejected.

THE infallibilityofpope was another debated issue, being maintained as part of Catholic doctrine, and it was determined that the saleinindulgences, the trigger of the Protestant Reformation, was prohibited. However, the Council of Trent was not limited to the liturgical and doctrinal debates of Catholicism, but established other practices to combat the advance of Protestantism in Europe.

THE prohibition of circulation of certain books was the main one. Church members identified that Protestantism benefited greatly from the circulation of ideas, which was made possible through the press. This instrument was a novelty and allowed the publication of writings to increase dramatically. So, to prevent the faithful from being influenced by this type of literature, it was decided to ban it.

This act became known as Index Librorum Proibitorum and contained an extensive list of works. Those found with banned books would be tried by the Tribunal do Santo Ofício, responsible for the Inquisition. If you want to know more about the topic of this topic, read: Council of Trent.

Image credits

[1] Chintung Lee and Shutterstock

[2] Adam Jan Figel and Shutterstock

By Daniel Neves
History teacher