Contra-Reformation

The Battle of Lepanto
Artist	Paolo Veronese
Year	1571
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	169 cm × 137 cm (67 in × 54 in)
Location	Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy

The Last Judgment
Artist	Michelangelo
Year	1537–1541
Type	Fresco
Dimensions	1370 cm × 1200 cm (539.3 in × 472.4 in)
Location	Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

The Counter-Reformation (Latin: Contrareformatio), also called the Catholic Reformation (Latin: Reformatio Catholica) or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation, beginning with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War (1648). The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort composed of five major elements:

Such reforms included the foundation of seminaries for the proper training of priests in the spiritual life and the theological traditions of the Church, the reform of religious life by returning orders to their spiritual foundations, and new spiritual movements focusing on the devotional life and a personal relationship with Christ, including the Spanish mystics and the French school of spirituality.

It also involved political activities that included the Roman Inquisition. One primary emphasis of the Counter-Reformation was a mission to reach parts of the world that had been colonized as predominantly Catholic and also try to reconvert areas such as Sweden and England that were at one time Catholic, but had been Protestantized during the Reformation.

In explaining the sacraments and pious practices attacked by the reformers, Counter-Reformation theologians were on the defensive right up to the Second Vatican Council in 1962–1965. One of the "most dramatic moments" at that Council was the intervention of when, during the debate on the nature of the Church, he called for an end to the "triumphalism, clericalism, and legalism" that had typified the Church in the previous centuries.

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