The Catholic/Counter Reformation & Council of Trent
Overview and Initial Strategy
- The Catholic or Counter Reformation represents the Catholic Church's direct response to the upheaval caused by Protestant reformers, starting with Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses.
- Initially, the church's strategy was to ignore the emerging Protestant movement.
- When ignoring failed, the next strategy was to persuade Protestant reformers to recant their positions, beliefs, and writings. This approach also proved unsuccessful.
The Call for a General Church Council
- When deep problems arise within the Catholic Church, the traditional and proper forum for resolution is a general church council, where important leaders and figures (the "bigwigs" and "mucky mucks") assemble to strategize and devise solutions.
- Numerous church councils have occurred throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church; the one specifically convened to address the Reformation was the Council of Trent.
The Council of Trent (1545 - 1563)
- Duration: The Council of Trent convened from 1545 to 1563, indicating a protracted process spanning almost two decades.
- Crisis Situation: Despite facing a severe crisis—having lost more than half of Europe to Protestantism within a generation—the church's response was notably slow.
- This slow pace is likened to thick syrup slowly pouring from a bottle, illustrating the institutional characteristic of the church to move deliberately rather than quickly.
- Logistical Challenges: The slowness was partly due to the logistics of the 1540s, including challenges with travel, communication, and information dissemination, making rapid assembly and decision-making difficult.
- Initial Deliberation: The first critical task upon assembly was to determine if reconciliation between Protestant beliefs and traditional Roman Catholic doctrine was possible.
- Decision on Reconciliation: The church leaders definitively answered with a resounding "no" to reconciliation, concluding that areas that had left the church to embrace Protestantism would not be brought back.
- New Focus: With reconciliation off the table, the primary objective of the Council of Trent shifted to keeping the remaining Catholic areas staunchly Catholic.
- Curriculum Analogy: This process is compared to teachers reviewing curriculum (e.g., chemistry or English) every ten years to decide what to keep, what to discard, and what new strategies to adopt.
- Institutional Resistance to Change: The church, as an institution, is generally resistant to change. Calling a council is often seen as