"Profession of the Tridentine Faith" (1564)

Reprinted in Confessions and Catechisms of the Reformation

Edited by Mark A. Noll
Published in 1997

The Catholic Reformation was a reform movement that took place within the Roman Catholic Church from the mid-sixteenth century into the early seventeenth century. Reforms were initiated by the Council of Trent, a conference of church officials, in a series of reports titled Canons and Decrees of the Council Trent. (A canon is a church law. A decree is an official order that implements a canon.) The council met in twenty-seven sessions between 1545 and 1563. The Catholic Reformation is also known as the Counter Reformation, but some historians prefer not to use this term because it suggests that changes came as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement that began within the Catholic...