https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Vy29FLvZQSsBtXR-za3WVfI2q_-3JwCqMeMssUpHUfG6kxeEpaWSR8FYCO1zEX_IznQzWBUaUyuathO8-4yIPIrMuMGFGOPgFFUdNKKvjmGp2WN5SX_Or3sCqJYtg1d_RH6PbO8zYC7OlFxczxWG_w

The Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was called by Pope Paul III.  Council leaders met in Trent in Northern Italy to create a statement of Catholic doctrine [beliefs] and correct abuses in the church.  The Council consisted of Catholic bishops and cardinals [high-ranking church officials].

The Council met intermittently [from time-to-time] between 1545 and 1563.  It decreed [announced]:

• People needed good works and faith in order to be saved. This was a rejection of Martin Luther’s belief that faith alone was enough.
• People were not authorized to interpret the Bible for themselves.
• Indulgences are authorized, although the abuse of indulgences is banned.
• Scripture [the Bible] and church traditions have the same weight [are considered equally important].
• Prayers to the saints and the use of images, relics [holy objects], and pilgrimages [holy journeys] are approved.

To curb [stop] abuses in the church, the Council of Trent issued several decrees, including:

• Bishops must live in the area they represent.
• Local clergy must be supervised by the bishops.
• Clergy must be educated in a seminary [schools that specialized in the training of priests

<aside> <img src="/icons/bookmark-outline_gray.svg" alt="/icons/bookmark-outline_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Sources Referenced: History of the Modern World to 1815 by Palmer, Colton & Kramer; Ancient World History: Patterns of Interaction, published by McDougall Littell

</aside>