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• 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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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Example Sentences

Historians once referred to it as the Counter Reformation.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

The fathers of Trent went on alone, passed 131 canons, sparked a Counter Reformation that brought life back to Catholicism.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Counter Reformation succeeded in its principal purposes.

From Time Magazine Archive

Said Canadian Father Gregory Baum, a council theologian: "This day will go down in history as the end of the Counter Reformation."

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