On the spot where Thomas More was condemned, a stirring defence of the faith (2 historic firsts)

Mail Online ^ | September 18, 2010 | Robert Hardman

[annalex]

Yes, indeed. God allowed the so-called reformation to happen so that the Church be stronger and purer. If Luther didn’t ask his questions, there wouldn’t be the Trent that answered them for all of us. All things work for the better in the end.

[Vanders9]

I agree. The reformation (there was no so-called about it) asked the questions that a complacent church had ignored for centuries. It was a wholly good thing, even for Catholics, if only because it prompted the counter reformation, which effectively was the Catholic Church getting its act together again. Lot of good things came out of it. Confessionals, for example, are a product of the counter reformation (a very good idea we protestants would to well to learn from).

In fact, I would even argue we need a "reformation" every generation. I dont mean a "refight the thirty years war" type reformation you understand, but a rethinking of how we apply the truth of God to the people at this particular instant in time.

[annalex]

The Protestant reformation is not true reform of the Church, because it created splinter groups, heretical to various degrees. Genuine reform does not generate heresies. St. Benedict was a true reformer, so was St. Francis and St. Dominic, Trent and the counter-reformation movement, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and possibly — although the jury is still out — Vatican II.