The Reformation and Counter-Reformation
A response to a growing decadence
The Reformation started at the beginning of the fifteenth century. It lasted until the end of the seventeenth century with the implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-1563). This reform movement came about because of these negative realities: the increasing decadence of the popes, the general laxity of the clergy, the excessive financial demands of the Holy See, and the political encroachments of the papacy. These negative realities caused some voices to be raised against Rome: protesting voices like John Huss, Erasmus, Martin Luther, Servetus, Zwingli, and Calvin, to name some. Many of these protesting voices broke up with the Catholic Church. These events soon affected religious life in Europe so greatly that the Holy Roman Empire eventually fell to pieces.
The Counter-Reformation, Trent, and the Spanish leadership
Because of the very divisive events that followed one after another, the Church had to establish her doctrine more solidly to confute the protesting voices which sought to undermine also what was good in Catholicism. It took the Catholic Church to organize a Council (Trent) that lasted for twenty-five sessions within a span of eighteen years before a satisfactory definition of the Catholic faith was re-established. This movement to redefine the Catholic foundation was the Counter-Reformation. Though the Holy Roman Empire fell into pieces as a result of many divisive events, the Holy See at Rome had delegated to the king of Spain a spiritual sovereignty not only within the framework of Spain's continental territory but also extended to the New World (the Americas). This is the reason why the proponents of the Counter-Reformation came from the Spaniards St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The Catholic Reformation at the grass roots
Though the Counter-Reformation had its main movement in ecclesiastical and hierarchical circles, there was also the same movement in the grass roots level. On a small scale, there were devout leaders who moved their religious order to undertake reform. Already mentioned were St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross - both reformers of their Carmelite Order. Aside from these two, there were also: the Franciscan Observatine preachers St. Bernardine of Siena and St. John Capistrano; the Benedictines of Bursfeld and Melk Congregations; the Dominican Lombard Congregation; and many Augustinian monasteries. The reform movement in these religious communities had achieved a certain degree of renewal and was sustained to a certain degree. However, renewal in these grass roots level was not as completely obtained as that of the leaders of the Council, since there often was no support coming from ecclesiastical circles.
Spiritual inspiration and centers of influence
In other grass roots sectors of the Church, there were also some great works and outstanding contributions to the Counter-Reformation movement. One of these was the work of Geert Groote (d. 1384) - who lived a spirituality that captures the ideals embedded in the classic spiritual work, "The Imitation of Christ". Two important fifteenth century congregations - the Canons of St. Augustine of Windesheim and the Brethren of the Common Life - owed their beginnings to Groote's inspiration. Another center of renewal and spiritual influence during this time came from the Carthusian Order. This religious order, founded by St. Bruno, is spiritually structured so as to have no need for reform. Their charterhouse at Cologne exerted quite a considerable influence to many devotees and acted as a spiritual center for many peoples.
Division in Christianity
Since at the grass roots level, which also includes the parishes and the lay faithful, the works of the reformers was constantly frustrated by the failure of the Church hierarchy to support them, many turned to the other doctrines and teachings of the Protestant reformers. As a result, Christian Europe was divided. The whole of northern Germany became Lutheran while the whole of Western Germany became Calvinist. England and her Anglican Church soon broke up with Rome. Only in the south of Europe did the influence of Rome remain unshaken: in Italy, Spain, Austria and Bohemia. In France, most of the French remained Catholic but their sovereigns veered toward Protestantism. This religious schism that gripped Europe also became part of an international war that not only involved mutual excommunications but also the spread of violence and strife. This fight raged on not only between brothers, among families, and between cities, but also among groups of peoples and nations.
Restoration in the post-Tridentine Church
After the Council of Trent applied the implementation of the decrees, the restoration of Catholic life began. This restoration was to be one of the most wonderful phenomena in Church history. Some historians refer to it as an "era of saints". The Catholic faithful, which felt like a retreating army against the Protestant reformers, now gave way to a new battle spirit and a rediscovered self-assurance. And those who also were not overcome during the height of the Protestant reformers influence, but remained very loyal to the practices of their beliefs, now once again rejoiced in their faith. What now appeared in the frontline of ecclesiastical reforms are those who were gifted with the charisma of saints - with saints like St. Pius V (the first pope who became a saint after a lapse of three hundred years), St. Charles Borromeo (the archbishop of Milan who reformed the diocesan seminary structure of the Church), and St. Francis de Sales (the bishop of Geneva who co-founded the Visitation Order and wrote the great spiritual classic, "Introduction to the Devout Life").
Summary
The Reformation and Counter-Reformation movements teach us that the Church, although of divine nature, has human elements. It is the human entity in the Church that is always in need of reform - at any time. Along her history, the Church was led into practices that caused her moral degeneration and a degree of laxity in her system. It was during the 15th-17th centuries wherein the Church was seen to be more in need of reform than any of the centuries that have passed. What is sad was that the reform movement was divided completely. Martin Luther did not intend to break up with the Catholic Church at the start of his protest. However, events led to the division of the Reformation into a Protestant Reformation and a Catholic Reformation. The Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation, however was able to restore the dignity of the Church that was almost destroyed by the events that transpired during this very critical centuries. It was the Council of Trent that provided the solution to the crisis.
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