Science Fair Project Encyclopedia The Catholic Reformation or
the Counter-Reformation was a strong reaffirmation of the
doctrine and structure of the Catholic Church, climaxing at the
Council of Trent, partly in reaction to the growth of
Protestantism. Even before the posting of Martin Luther's
Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, there had been evidence of internal
reform within the Church, combating trends that heightened
demands for radical demands to fundamentally alter the doctrine
and structure of the Medieval Church and even contributed to
anticlericalism of figures such as John Huss and John Wycliffe
in the late fourteenth century. The Catholic Reformation, aimed
at correcting the sources of the Reformation, and pronounced
since the pontificate of Pope Paul III, was both retaliatory,
committed to protecting Catholic institutions and practices from
heresy and Protestantism, but also reformist, committed to
reform the Church from within to stem the growing appeal of
Protestantism. Broadly speaking, the Catholic