Explain The Condition Of The Catholic Church On The Eve Of Protestant Reformation

How would you describe the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation? In the time right before the reformation, there was a mixture of corruption and piety throughout, so to say that the whole church was absolutely corrupt or absolutely pious would be an err. We see dramatic events such as feasts, pilgrimages, high mass and famous preachers were highly sought after, but regular devotions and mass were in decline. In the state of the churchmen, we can see that priests and bishops are engaging in absenteeism. Parish clergy grew increasingly impoverish and this stimulated a fixation on money. Also, an epidemic of ignorant priests came from a system with no training; so that when the reformation came along,