Was The Catholic Reformation Successful?

Anna Schoeppner

The Catholic Reformation started during the Renaissance, a time of creativity and how

people viewed themselves. The Renaissance started in Italy and spread north to the rest of

Europe. The Renaissance was a time of the church changing and evolving as well as the language

of the church changing from Latin to the common language. Did you know that there where

people called the Inquisition, a group of people who went out and made sure no one was

studying anything but Catholicism? The Inquisition would burn the books of any other faith that

was not Catholic and would go into peoples houses. I argue that the Catholic Reformation was

successful, I will prove this because of how the Church is today. I will also prove this by all of

the people involved such as Teresa of Avila and Pope Paul III and what they did to shape the

church into what it is today. The Inquisition also did many things that can prove that the Catholic

Reformation was successful.

First, Teresa of Avilla helped shape the catholic church into what it is today. Teresa of

Avilla was born into a wealthy family and she symbolizes the renewal of the church. Teresa set

up an order of nuns to reform the church and made the church more strict. The church was so

impressed by her work and what she was doing that they asked her to reform and reorganize

other convents throughout Spain. Soon after that the church canonized her a saint for her good

work. If this did not happen and she did not reform the church the catholic church would not be

where it is today. There would be a lot of revolts still happening and Rome became a more
dedicated city to the Catholic Church and now is where the pope is stationed. CatholicSaints.org

states,“I was determined to find a new convent that went back to the basics of a contemplative

order: a simple life of poverty and devoted prayer”. This is a quote from St. Therese of Avila.

She reached her goal and beyond because she became a saint. Secondly, the Catholic

Reformation was successful because of Pope Paul III, the leader of the Catholic reformation.

Pope Paul III gave people assignments so that they can get the church to go back to the way that

it was. World History, Connections to Today, states a quote from Pope Paul III, “stressing having

more schools so people could learn about the liturgy and the church and want to go back and

switch to Catholiscm”. Paul III stressing this was called the council of Trent.

Third, the Inquisition had a good part in reforming the church because the stressed and

enforced strict laws. The inquisition where considered the “secret police” , they would go out and

make sure that no one studied anything but Catholiscm. In the middle ages a court was set up and

used secret testimony, torture and execution to root out heresy. The inquisition also prepared a

list of forbidden books including John Calvin and Martin Luther. The Catholic Reformation is

successful because of all of these people and all of these situations. The Inquisition enforced

strict laws so that people would go back to Catholiscm. The inquisition where sort of a threat to

people because of what they where doing.

Catholic Reformation was successful because if it was not then the church wouldn’t be

where it is today and we would not have as strong or as popular of a faith. The majority of people

are catholic or study and believe Catholiscm , Catholic schools would not be here and our school

would not be like it is now. Catholic schools stress the importance of our religion and if the
Catholic Reformation did not happen then we could have Calvinist schools and Lutheran

schools. Rome is also a more devot country because of the Reformation and that is now where

the Pope is, one of the biggest and most important people in the catholic faith. The more people

that believe in the the more popular the religion will be and the more people will want to become

a part of the faith.