Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation Revival of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe during the 16th and early 17th centuries. It began as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation and was intended to strengthen the Church against Protestantism and the prevailing humanism of the Renaissance. The reforms were essentially conservative, trying to remove many of the abuses that had crept into the late medieval church and win new prestige for the papacy. The major impetus for reform emerged from the pontificate of Paul III and the founding of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The Council of Trent (1545–63) was the engine of the Counter-Reformation. It eradicated simony (such as the sale of indulgences), standardized Roman Catholic theology, and undertook institutional reforms. The second phase (1563–90) of the Counter-Reformation was administered by Pius V, Gregory XIII and Sixtus V. See also Campion; Vincent de Paul
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Counter-Reformation