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What Did The Catholic Church Do In Response To The Reformation Essay

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What Did The Catholic Church Do In Response To The Reformation Essay
Around the time of the Reformation, societies suffered profoundly from The Black Death. The plague caused the deaths of 50-60% of Europe and 500 million deaths worldwide. People were intensely fearful and many turned to religion to cope. Many questions arose about God and the Church, which became a spotlight of attention.

What effect was this having on the faith of the people?
Many people believed that God was punishing them. Many performed acts of good, known as indulgences, in the hope that God would forgive them for their sins and end the punishment. With death so near, people performed indulgences so they would spend less time in Purgatory.

Who was involved, and what did they do?
Indulgences could be obtained for oneself or another, but some abused this …show more content…
Luther also attacked the Catholic Church as a whole. He preached that salvation could be gained from faith alone because salvation was a gift from God, and that no person can earn salvation. His teachings lead to the Reformation of the Church, in which different denominations of Christianity were created.

What did the Catholic Church do in response to the issues?
The Reformation caused commotion in the Catholic Church and reforms were needed. Following Luther's opposition, a council formed to respond to the issues of the Reformation, known as The Council of Trent. The council reformed the clergy, forbidding all corrupt practices and forbidding indulgences as a means of revenue. Also, salvation was recognised a gift from God but needed human co-operation, such as good acts. Many other practices of the Catholic Church were changed.

Changes to the Catholic Church were for the better. Abuses of indulgences were forbidden, and the re-affirmed doctrine of salvation protected Catholic beliefs whilst also recognising salvation as a gift. These changes restored order, faith, and validity to the Catholic
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