I.

Introduction

Counter Reformation, movement within the Roman Catholic church in the 16th and 17th centuries that sought to revitalize the church and to oppose Protestantism (see Reformation). Some historians object to the term as implying only the negative elements in the movement, and they prefer designations such as Catholic Reformation or Catholic Restoration. They stress the high spirituality that animated many leaders of the movement, which often had no direct relation to the Protestant Reformation.