Question

What was the Catholic Church's response to Martin Luther's call to establish a reformed German church?

Answer 1

Answer:  The Catholic Church  condemned Luther and his followers, and responded with its own Counter-Reformation.

Explanation/detail:

The leadership in Rome issued condemnations of Luther's teachings and placed the territories following him under the "interdict," meaning a prohibition of priests administering sacraments among them.  But priests and people both followed along with Luther and the Lutheran Church was established in Germany.

The Roman Catholic Church also responded to the Protestant Reformation in a number of ways intended to strengthen its own stance and its hold on church power.  This movement by the Catholic Church is known as the Counter-Reformation or the Catholic Reformation.  It included a number of features, such as:

• The formation of religious orders that aimed to build allegiance to Rome and the papacy, and to educate people in Catholic teaching.  The Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits for short, was a key order of this sort.  The order was founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534, along with Francis Xavier and several others.  Pope Paul III gave his full approval to the Jesuit order in 1540.
• The Council of Trent served to reform some abuses that were acknowledged by the Catholic Church, but mostly to assert the full authority of Roman power and doctrine over the Protestant threat.  The Council of Trent held meetings over a span of years from 1545 to 1563. The Council also commissioned the publication of a catechism to properly educate Catholic clergy in the church's teachings.
• The Roman Inquisition was founded in 1542 by Pope Paul III to act as an investigative body in regard to threats to Rome's teachings.  About a century later, Galileo would be one of the most famous persons tried by the Roman Inquisition.