Roman Catholic Church's Response to Protestant Reformation

During the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, the Catholic Church did not want to be rolled over by the Protestant tide and so they began the Counter Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was the religious, revolutionary movement in the 16th century against the Roman Catholic Church authorities and certain doctrines, which led to the establishment of the Protestant sect. The decline in Church prestige, abuses such as corruption, worldliness in the church, simony (selling of Church office positions), and the sales of indulgences (pardons for committed sins) caused the Reformation. Social, economic, and political problems (Black Death, Hundred Years’ War, money for St. Peter’s Cathedral’s construction, and local leaders not wanting the Church to run things, etc.) were also factors in the cause of the Reformation. The Counter (Catholic) Reformation was the answering reform movement in which the Catholic Church tried to prevent Protestantism from spreading. The Roman Catholic...