Catholic Reformation: Protestant Reformation

Did the Counter-Reformation create a new and distinctive kind of spirituality?
The Counter-Reformation, or Catholic Reformation as it is often referred to had ushered in an era of Catholic resistance to the Protestant Reformation. The Counter-Reformation can be defined by the various religious orders which sprang up during this Catholic resurgence and the approach in which they took in regards to responding the various social, artistic and political changes brought about by the Protestant Reformation. One of the most prominent and notable orders was the Society of Jesus or Jesuits founded in 1534 by Ignatius Loyola, a clergy man who himself had a more militant outlook given that he was trained and fought as a soldier. The spirituality of
As Robert Bireley states, 'These new orders and congregations were often characterised by distinctive spiritualities or ways of living the Christian life, such as Franciscan or Jesuit spirituality. '5 Furthermore the circumstances, given the Protestant Reformation and how it impacted the continent, the Catholic Church would have had to take a more hard line approach in their attempts to recapture their declining influence within certain parts of Europe. To lay focus of the Jesuit order itself, it was an order highly concerned with the ultimate preservation and spread of the Roman Catholic tradition. The order signified the importance of a good Catholic education with the various Jesuit colleges which developed all across Europe and the importance of traditional Catholic values such as transubstantiation, in which an individual was to be true to the sacraments and to practice them often as Christ was living within them through the Eucharist. It was clear that the Jesuits were functioning as an active and open resistance to the changes brought about by the Protestant Reformation,
Outram Evennett 's suggestion that 'the Society of Jesus became the most powerful, active, modernising, humanistic and flexible force within the Counter-Reformation '.7 Therefore highlighting Catholic attempts at spiritual revival through the influential Jesuit order as it established a more distinct outlook. A further example of religious orders which sprang out from the Catholic Reformation can be identified as the Discalced Carmelites, who 's marquee figure was Teresa of Avila. This order showed some degree of reform as it stressed stricter practices within the Catholic faith for both men and woman alike. However this can be viewed as more of a tightening of traditional Catholic observances rather than the construction of a new sense of spirituality. Essentially the fact that these orders, particularly the Jesuits under Loyola, were fighting to preserve Catholic tradition indicates that the Counter-Revolution produced a more distinct form of Catholic spirituality rather than a new spirituality altogether, given that they stressed the importance of typical Catholic