Catholic Reformation And The Council Of Trent

There have been 21 Catholic Councils in the history of the Catholic Church, which is some 2000 years old.

Church Councils are gatherings of all the cardinals, residing bishops and other priests and lay people.

Church Councils meet to discuss matters of faith and Church discipline.

Decisions of Church Councils are approved by the Pope.

The Council of Trent lasted 18 years, from 1545 to 1563.

Five Popes who reigned between 1545 and 1563 were involved in the Council of Trent. They were Pope Paul the third, Pope Julius the third, Pope Marcellus the second, Pope Paul the fourth and Pope Pius the fourth.

There were 33 archbishops and 235 bishops involved in the Council of Trent.

The Council of Trent addressed the errors raised by Martin Luther and other reformers, and worked to reform the discipline of the Church.

The Council of Trent addressed church reform and rejected Protestantism, defined the role and canon of scripture and the seven sacraments, and strengthened clerical discipline in education.

Long before Martin Luther started the Reformation, many Catholics had been calling for change in the Church.

Many Catholics also wanted spiritual reform to help bring people closer to God. The Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther forced the Catholic Church to put its own house in order.

The Council of Trent was called by Pope Paul the third, who realized that the abuses in the Catholic Church caused so much harm that reform was needed.

Pope Paul the third called a General Council of the Church to clearly state Catholic teachings, and renew the Church spiritually and practically.

The Council of Trent's aims were especially directed at those who had been challenged by the Protestant Reformers. The number of bishops attending the Council of Trent varied from about 30 to 230.

The Council of Trent takes its name from the city of Trentino, which becomes Trent in English, in the northern part of Italy, which is close to Germany, where many Protestants live, so the location was chosen to provide easier access for Protestant representatives to attend the council.

The Council of Trent lasted 18 years, over 3 sessions, with the first period being from 1545 to 1548, the second period being from 1551 to 1552, and the third period being from 1562 to 1563. The interruptions that led to the three sessions, or periods, were due to politics, wars and plague.

1) Human nature is not totally depraved. 2) Justification comes through faith, hope and charity, or love, which includes good works. 3) Scripture and tradition are an expression of God's revelation.

4) The traditional 7 sacraments are to be upheld. 5) Doctrine of transubstantiation is to be upheld. In other words, Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.

6) The Mass is a sacrifice presided over by a priest. 7) The position of the Pope as the successor of St Peter and the Vicar of Christ was affirmed.

1) A seminary for the education of priests was to be set up in each diocese. 2) Decrees were passed against pluralism and absenteeism by clergy and religious leaders. 3) Indulgence selling was abolished.

Note that pluralism in this case means a system where one person controlled a number of parishes. Note that absenteeism in this case means bishops held titles to dioceses they never visited but received taxes from them.

One of the major reasons why Martin Luther went about reforming the church was because clergy, in other words priests and bishops, were abusing their power and involved in corrupt practices.

This abuse of power and involvement in corruption included the selling of indulgences, pluralism and absenteeism, failing to keep the vows of celibacy, favoritism, nepotism, and selling of relics.

All of these happened because uneducated priests who lacked training as well as training priests who were not spiritually motivated. Nevertheless, these new priest were needed to replace priests who had died during the black plague.