The Reformation started at the beginning of the fifteenth century
and lasted until the end of the seventeenth century with the implementation
of the decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-1563). This movement came
about because of many negative realities in the Church: 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 voices to be raised against Rome: protesting
voices like John Huss, Erasmus, Martin Luther, Servetus, Zwingli, and
Calvin, to name some of them. Many of these protesting voices broke
up with the Catholic Church. These events soon affected the religious
life in Europe 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 even 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 to 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 why
a great influence during this 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 a reform movement in the grass
roots level. On a small scale, there were devout leaders who moved their
religious order to undertake reform. Already mentioned of these devout
religious leaders 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 of reform and renewal 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 also 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 however, when the implementation of the decrees
were being applied, 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 were
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 of a saintless
papacy), 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 she is of divine nature, has also 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.