When Protestants went against the church, the church made a counter reformation in which they worked to strengthen the Catholic Church. Spain also came in to help them. They created new religious orders, change church policy, and stop the spread of Protestants. In Southern Europe they created new religious orders which were different but they all wanted support for the Catholic Church. The first order was founded by Ignatius of Loyola, called the Jesuits, who thought that a good Catholic education would turn Protestants back. Another was the Angela Merici who had the same ideas. Besides orders, Catholic leaders created a council in Trent, Italy. They discussed, debated, and reformed Catholic teachings. During the three times they met they had major reforms. Later on Catholic practices became distinct from Protestants. Some religious leaders wanted to punish Protestants so the pope created courts that punished Protestants and he wrote a list of books that if read would get you excommunicated. Missionaries were sent around the world. The most important missionary was Francis Xavier who went to India and Japan. Missionaries baptized millions of people and the Catholic Reformation reached far beyond Europe.

7.Catholic Reformation