Religious Reformation

                           Religious Reformation

The split that developed in the Christian church is most significant developments in the sixteenth century Europe.The Roman Catholic church became corrupt, lost much of its credibility with the intellectuals in the 16th century.It also failed to fulfill the purpose for which it was founded by Jesus Christ and his successor, St.Peter, who became the first bishop of Rome. It was set up to propagate the teachings of Christ, give proper guidance which enabled them to attain salvation without difficulty.  
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Christian church played an important role in saving the Christians from the perils of barbaric invasions.The papacy was highly respected and every pope was considered to possess divinity and regarded infallible.
The catholic church served the spiritual and other religious needs in various ways and became so popular that even mighty kings of Europe were afraid to differ from it. They called upon all the citizens to obey the church, and such of those who showed disobedience were declared heretics and burnt at the stake.
Every baby born in Europe automatically became Christian and therefore had to go through "sacramental system" in the course of its life.
The Catholic church was organised into units like provinces, the diocese and parishes which were run by a hierarchy of officials such as the Pope,cardinals,archbishops,bishops,parish priest,curates and deacons. All these officials were called "secular clergy" and distinguished from "regular" who mostly were monks who had renounced the world but practiced Christian virtues like chastity, poverty and obedience.In the middle ages the church and the state entered into a rivalry which had serious repercussions.
The highest authority of the church was exercised by the Pope and his General Council which comprised prominent Bishops.