The religious upheaval in the 16th century gave rise to Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism and the radical sects. The rapid spread of Protestantism alarmed the Catholics and they felt the urgency to check further damage to the Catholic Church. They demanded Reformation from within and the movement came to be known as Counter Reformation.

The attitude of the Popes changed. They took firm steps to check the spread of Protestantism. The Roman Catholic Church made efforts to win back the Protestant-dominated countries, to the Roman obedience. A concerted Counter-Reformation Movement was launched with the four-fold purpose of punishing, reforming, converting and rendering social service. The inquisition was to punish, the Council of Trent was to introduce reforms and the Society of Jesus was to render service to God and Society.

1. The inquisition: was a Roman Catholic Court formed for conducting inquiry into cases of heresy and meting out punishments to those who were found guilty? The guilty were excommunicated and given over to the civil arm for punishment, which included torturing and execution by burning. They issued a strict code of conduct to be followed by the Church officials. The inquisition was first established in Spain and they were set up to deal with the non-Catholics and to put down heresy.

2. The Council of Trent:(1545 – 1563 A.D). The Catholic Church held a General Council at Trent in north Italy, convened by Charles V in 1545 A.D. Its main purpose as clearly defined by the doctrines of the Church, was to remove some of the abuses and to restore unity in the Catholic Church. The Council condemned the sale of Church offices and bade the clergy to strictly adhere to clerical duties. It also banned the sale of indulgences.

3. Society of Jesus in 1540: The Counter-Reformation Movement was bolstered by the formation of several new religious orders. The most popular of these was the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish knight of Noble descent. He inspired a large team of selfless, educated and disciplined priests to serve God and Christianity. They were known as Jesuits. They took the vows of simplicity, chastity, obedience, service and spreading Catholicism.