Whose major goal was the reform of the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

In 1517 Martin Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church when he nailed 95 propositions to the door of a church in Wittenburg. The pope ignored his beliefs that only faith could gain salvation, leading Martin Luther to create the Lutheran version of Protestantism. Soon King Henry VIII set up the Anglican church and Jean Calvin created Calvinism. These actions were all part of the protestant reformation.

During this protestant reformation the Catholic church decided to have a Catholic reformation, which soon led to religious wars between the Catholics and Protestants.

In the end Martin Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church, but when he was ignored he was forced to break Christian unity and create a new church.

In history there were many people who wanted to reform the Catholic Church, but Martin Luther was the first to take a major step towards that.

What time period did you have in mind because I answered what happened between 1450 and 1750.

Answer 2

Every Church Council and every Pope, to one degree or another has sought to reform the Catholic Church. As the Body of Christ, the Church is, of course, perfect; but as she is composed entirely of sinners (save for the Church Triumphant in heaven) she is always in need of reform. Therefore, every bishop, every Pope, and every Church Council has sought reform in the Church for each one of its members. To get a more definite answer, you are going to have to narrow it down to a century or less, and perhaps a country, or at least a continent.

Answer 3

Catholic Answer

There have been many whose goal was reform of the Catholic Church. One of the major players who started a religious Order which is still active today was St. Francis of Assisi who lived from A.D. 1181 to 1226. Probably if you are getting this question in class they are wanted to know about the Catholic Reformation which happened in the 16th century, and was primarily the work of the Council of Trent, and Popes St. Pius V and Gregory XIII, although there were many others involved, as you can read about below.

Contemporary society often thinks of Martin Luther as wanting to reform the Catholic Church but that is completely mistaken and should in no wise be promoted as the truth. Father Martin Luther only wished to have his various sins approved of by the Church as he had extreme mental problems, and he ended up breaking away from the Church and starting one to suit himself.

from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957

The Counter-Reformation is the name given to the Catholic movement of reform and activity which lasted for about one hundred years from the beginning of the Council of Trent (q.v., 1545), and was the belated answer to the threatening confusion and increasing attacks of the previous years. It was the work principally of the Popes St. Pius V and Gregory XIII and the Council itself in the sphere of authority, of SS. Philip Neri and Charles Borromeo in the reform of the clergy and of life, of St. Ignatius and the Jesuits in apostolic activity of St. Francis Xavier in foreign missions, and of St. Teresa in the purely contemplative life which lies behind them all. But these were not the only names nor was it a movement of a few only; the whole Church emerged from the 15th century purified and revivified. On the other hand, it was a reformation rather than a restoration; the unity of western Christendom was destroyed; the Church militant (those still on earth) led by the Company of Jesus adopted offence as the best means of defence and, though she gained as much as she lost in some sense, the Church did not recover the exercise of her former spiritual supremacy in actuality.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

A period of Catholic revival from 1522 to about 1648, better know as the Catholic Reform. It was an effort to stem the tide of Protestantism by genuine reform within the Catholic Church. There were political movements pressured by civil rules, and ecclesiastical movements carried out by churchmen in an attempt to restore genuine Catholic life by establishing new religious orders such as the Society of Jesus and restoring old orders to their original observances, such as the Carmelites under St. Teresa of Avila (1515-98). The main factors responsible for the Counter Reformation, however, were the papacy and the council of Trent (1545-63). Among church leaders St. Charles Borromeo (1538-84), Archbishop of Milan, enforced the reforms decreed by the council, and St. Francis de Sales of Geneva (1567-1622) spent his best energies in restoring genuine Catholic doctrine and piety. Among civil rulers sponsoring the needed reform were Philip II of Spain (1527-98) and Mary Tudor (1516-58), his wife, in England. Unfortunately this aspect of the reformation led to embitterment between England and Scotland, England and Spain, Poland and Sweden, and to almost two centuries of religious wars. As a result of the Counter Reformation, the Catholic Church became stronger in her institutional structure, more dedicated to the work of evangelization, and more influential in world affairs.