Go back to the year 1500; the Church was very powerful spiritually and politically in Western Europe, and ruled over significant territory in Italy called the Papal States; but there were other political forces at work during the time too. These powerful forces included: the Holy Roman Empire, the Italian city-states, England, and unified nation states of France and Spain. The strength of the rulers in these areas began increasing in the previous years and many were anxious to take the opportunity offered by the Reformation to weaken the control of the papacy and increase their own power, while also seeing a reform of the church. One response of the Roman Catholic Church was holding the long-delayed Council of Trent in 1545, lasting 18 years and spanning four different popes. Corruptions of the church could not be completely removed in an …show more content…
The church confirmed and re-confirmed many doctrines of existing beliefs and practices. Out of the Council of Trent came, denial of the Lutheran idea of justification by faith, they affirmed their Doctrine of Merit, which allows human beings to redeem themselves through Good Works. Through the sacraments; they affirmed the existence of Purgatory and the usefulness of prayer and indulgences in shortening a person's stay in purgatory; they reaffirmed the belief in transubstantiation and the importance of all seven sacraments. They also reaffirmed the authority of both scripture the teachings and traditions of the Church, and the necessity and correctness of religious art. All of these outcomes played an important role in what many Catholics thought was needed as a reformation of the church. Not only did the Council of Trent reform the Catholic Church from within and gave a new breath to the faith, but also served as help to the Counter-Reformation against