Counter-Reformation
The
label for the Roman Catholic revival of the sixteenth century. It emphasizes that
the reaction to the Protestant challenge was the dominant theme of contemporary
Catholicism. The movement is also labeled the Catholic Reformation and the
Catholic renaissance, since elements of Catholic reform and revival predated
the Protestant Reformation and were, like Protestantism, a response to the
widespread aspiration for religious regeneration pervading late fifteenth
century Europe. It is now better understood that the two reformations,
Protestant and Catholic, though believing themselves to be in opposition, had
many similarities and drew on a common past: the revival of preaching
exemplified in the great pre-Reformation preachers like Jan Hus, (who the Roman
Catholics killed by burning him at the stake.)
The
Roman Inquisition was established in 1542 by Pope Paul III to suppress
Lutheranism in Italy. Cardinal Caraffa, its Inquisitor General, later Pope Paul
IV (1555-59), directed that heretics in high places should be dealt with most
severely, "for on their punishment, the salvation of the classes beneath
them depends." The Roman Inquisition (the murdering of the Saints) reached
its peak during the pontificate of zealot Pius V (1566-72), systematically
extirpating Italian Protestants and securing Italy as a base for a counteroffensive
on the Protestant north.
The
corrupt hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church was dramatically reformed in the
wake of the Council of Trent. Dioceses mushroomed in areas where there was felt
to be a particular Protestant threat. Bishops carried out frequent visitations
of their diocesses and established seminaries for the training of clergy. The
number of church buildings and clergy increased markedly. The most vigorous of
the reforming popes, Sixtus V (1585-90), established fifteen "congregations"
or commissions to prepare papal pronouncements and strategy. Some Protestant
gains were reversed under the direction of such theologians as Robert
Bellarmine (1542-1621) and Peter Canisius (1521-97). The Counter-Reformation in
general, and the Council of Trent in particular, strengthened the position of
the pope and the forces of clericalism and authoritarianism.