I'd heard scandalous rumors about them Templars being Catholic, but I just wasn't sure, lol.
Seriously though, it seems that there is a misconception afoot here. The Reformation was an attempt at righting the then-wrongs of the Catholic Church, almost entirely a European event. It did not and does not represent a wholesale rejection of all things taught by that church, just those things that do not find scriptural support and especially that which runs counter to it. It was an attempt to return to first principals, hence the obvious reverence with which certain early "church fathers" are held.
Shifting focus to England, Henry Tudor maintained he was Catholic until the day he died. The pendulum swung back and forth, with the "ins" persecuting the "outs" by turn as they came back into favor and then back out once again, for over a century. No one's hands could be said to be clean.
I've actually found it's more likely for the shoe to be on the other foot, as far as ignorance of church history in the British Isles, England in particular.
The Reformation was an attempt at righting the then-wrongs of the Catholic Church, almost entirely a European event. It did not and does not represent a wholesale rejection of all things taught by that church, just those things that do not find scriptural support and especially that which runs counter to it. It was an attempt to return to first principals, hence the obvious reverence with which certain early “church fathers” are held.
>>On that account, it failed. Instead of reforming the Catholic Church, it created a series of schisms and doctrinal anarchy that Christendom never recovered from.
The Council of Trent succeeded in cleaning up the swamp in ways Luther failed.
The Catholic Reformation that followed stamped out much of the corruption of the pre-Reformation Church including the infamous selling of indulgences.