Catholic Revitalization

Sources: Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations (Blackwell, 1996); Denis R. Janz, A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with Introductions (Fortress, 1999); Diarmaid MacCulloch, "The Reformation 1500-1650" in Richard Harries and Henry Mayr-Harting, Christianity: Two Thousand Years (Oxford, 2001).

Reading: Titus.

Counter-Reformation, or Catholic Reformation?
Catholic criticism of Catholic corruption long predates Luther:
Erasmus of Rotterdam's In Praise of Folly ridicules Catholic excesses in 1509
Early papal reforms are too few, come too late, end too early, and do too little
Later reforms create a distinctive Roman Catholic identity

Renew: Society of Jesus
The upper-class Ignatius of Loyola is injured in battle, commits to ministry in 1522
For Loyola, Church reform begins in personal sanctification
Writes Spiritual Exercises: four meditations on sin, life of Christ, passion, resurrection
Founds the Jesuits in Rome 1540 as an activist rather than contemplative order
Jesuits are marked by obedience to the hierarchical Church
Activities center in education, evangelism, mission, suppression of Protestantism

React: Inquisition
Emperor Frederick II begins the Inquisition in 1232 to interrogate and persecute heretics
Gregory IX takes over with Dominicans and Franciscans rather than state officials
Inquisitors originally seek confession and absolution, then trial and imprisonment
Innocent IV allows torture in interrogation in 1252
Innocent VIII condemns witchcraft in 1484, inaugurating inquisitorial witchhunts
Paul IV makes the Congregation of the Inquisition final judges of heresy in 1542
Never popular in Italy, it fizzles after helping extinguish early Italian Protestantism

Ferdinand and Isabella set up the Spanish Inquisition in 1479 with papal approval
Torquemada forcefully re-Catholicizes baptized Jews, forcibly converted Muslims, Protestants
These actions make sense to Constantinian Catholics and Protestants alike

Restrict: Index
Paul IV circulates the Index of Prohibited Books in 1557
Texts from Protestants and humanists, including Erasmus, are banned or edited
Bible translations and some Church Fathers are banned or require permission
Inquisition and Index effectively re-Catholicize Spain and suffocate Italian Protestantism

Regroup: Council of Trent 1545-1563
Early efforts stall at ecumenical councils with Protestants
Trent's three sessions take a hard line affirming and formalizing Catholic tradition:

Protestant (radical Augustinian) theological positions are anathematized
Scripture and tradition are both authoritative
Humanity cooperates with divine grace for salvation (synergy)
Sacraments are seven: baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, orders, penance, marriage, unction
Transubstantiation remains the official description of communion
Liturgy is standardized but left unreformed as the Latin Mass
Against conciliarism, ultramontanism centralizes Church hierarchy in the papacy
This makes Catholicism truly Roman Catholicism

Summary: The focus of Catholic reform is individual spirituality, institutional identity, and mission

Outcome: Protestants and Catholics reify, harden, polarize, confessionalize