The Counter-Reformation was the movement within the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH in the 16th and 17th centuries that tried to eliminate abuses within that church and to respond to the Protestant REFORMATION. Until recently, historians tended to stress the negative and repressive elements in this movement, such as the INQUISITION and the INDEX of Forbidden Books, and to concentrate their attention on its political, military, and diplomatic aspects. They now show greater appreciation for the high level of spirituality that animated many of the leaders of the Counter-Reformation.

The century before the outbreak of the Reformation was marked by increasing and widespread dismay with the venality of the bishops and their involvement in politics, with the ignorance and superstition of the lower clergy, with the laxity of religious orders, and with the sterility of academic theology. Movements for a return to the original observances within religious orders and the activity of outspoken critics of the papacy like Girolamo SAVONAROLA were symptomatic of the impulses for reform that characterized sectors of the Catholic church during these years.

Not until PAUL III became pope in 1534 did the Roman Catholic church receive the leadership it needed to coordinate these impulses and meet the challenge of the Protestants. This pope approved new religious orders like the JESUITS, and he convoked the Council of TRENT (1545-63) to deal with the doctrinal and disciplinary questions raised by the Protestant reformers. The decrees of that council formulating belief and practice dominated Roman Catholic thinking for the next four centuries. Paul III, as well as his successors, also committed papal resources to military action against the Protestants.

The Counter-Reformation was activist, marked by enthusiasm for the evangelization of newly discovered territories, especially in North and South America; for the establishment of religious schools, where the Jesuits took the lead; and for the organization of works of charity and catechesis under the leadership of reformers like Saint Charles BORROMEO. Somewhat paradoxically, there was also a renewed enthusiasm for contemplation, and the era produced two of the greatest representatives of MYSTICISM--TERESA OF AVILA and JOHN OF THE CROSS.

John W. O'Malley
 

Copyright 1995 by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.