Ignatius Loyola

The Counter-Reformation. The sixteenth century Roman Catholic Church seemed in danger of collapsing under the combined weight of its own corruption^[1] and the new Protestant Reformation. Even in Italy, whose economy was dependent upon Church revenues from all over Europe, Protestantism developed a large and vibrant following. Protestant writings, powered by Gutenberg’s printing press, circulated throughout Europe despite Church efforts to suppress them.

The Roman Catholic Church may owe her survival—and certainly her renewal and growth—to reformers within the Catholic Church who forced change upon her. These leaders of the “Counter-Reformation” included: Count Gaetano da Thiene,[2] who led a group of prominent men dedicated to poverty, care of the sick, and a moral life; Bishop Gianmatteo Giberti,[3] who built orphanages, helped the poor, and forced his priests to live moral lives; St. Charles Borromeo,[4] who reformed the clergy and people of Milan; and Giovanni Pietro Caraffa who, as Pope Paul IV,^[5] fought against simony, pluralism, and absenteeism,^[6] as well as immorality among clergy and monks. Additional reforms were enacted by the Council of Trent[7] and later popes, such as Pius V, Gregory XIII, and Sixtus V.^[8] Yet no one did more to promote the success of the Counter-Reformation than Ignatius Loyola. . . .

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[1]. For a discussion of the abuses that provoked the Protestant Reformation (and the Catholic Counter-Reformation), see Chapter 11.

[2]. 1480-1547

[3]. 1495-1543

[4]. 1538-1584

[5]. Pope from 1555 to 1559

[6]. We discussed simony and pluralism in Chapter 11. Absenteeism is the practice of living at a remote location from the region for which the Church official is responsible—in effect, receiving the revenues of the office without fulfilling its duties.

[7]. 1545-1563

[8]. St. Pius V was pope 1566-1572; Gregory XIII was pope 1572-1585; Sixtus V was pope 1585-1590.