Jump To:

• Counter Reformation
  Counter Reformation

  noun

  the movement within the Roman Catholic Church that followed the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
• Counter-Reformation
  Counter-Reformation

  noun

  the reform movement of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th and early 17th centuries considered as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation

Counter Reformation

American  

noun

1. the movement within the Roman Catholic Church that followed the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

---

Counter-Reformation British  

/ ˌkaʊntəˌrɛfəˈmeɪʃən /

noun

1. the reform movement of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th and early 17th centuries considered as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation

---

Counter Reformation ¹ Cultural  

1. The reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Reformation. The chief aims of the Counter Reformation were to increase faith among church members, get rid of some of the abuses to which the leaders of the Reformation objected, and affirm some of the principles rejected by the Protestant churches, such as veneration of the saints and acceptance of the authority of the pope. Many Jesuits were leaders of the Counter Reformation.

---

Counter Reformation ² Cultural  

1. The reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Reformation. The chief aims of the Counter Reformation were to increase faith among church members, end many of the abuses to which the leaders of the Reformation objected, and affirm some of the principles rejected by the Protestant churches, such as veneration of the saints and acceptance of the authority of the pope. Many Jesuits were leaders of the Counter Reformation.

---

Example Sentences

Historians once referred to it as the Counter Reformation.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

And by the end of the 16th century, spiritual renewal of the church might have been achieved from within, perhaps by that charismatic figure of Rome's Counter Reformation, Ignatius Loyola.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Society of Jesus was formed originally as a kind of spiritual Marine Corps to check the advance of Protestantism during the Counter Reformation.

From Time Magazine Archive

The first stone was set just as the Council of Trent was ending, and for 21 years the walls rose to bear out in architecture the spirit of the Counter Reformation begun at the council.

From Time Magazine Archive

The failure of Lutherans and Calvinists to cooperate weakened German Protestantism just at the period when the Counter Reformation inspired Roman Catholicism with fresh energy and enthusiasm.

From Early European History by Webster, Hutton