"O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you." - 1 Timothy 6:20
Introduction
In the early 16th Century, some people within the Catholic Church were calling for reform due to abuses that had been taking place in the recent history of the Church. This meant that holy men and women in the Church wanted her to be a full reflection of Christ as the Church is His body. Many people worked hard to bring this renewal about as we will discuss here. However, some clergymen like Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli chose another path instead of internal renewal. While their initial desire to end the abuses by some members of the Church was honorable, they broke off from the Catholic Church, formed their own churches, and began what is known as the Protestant Reformation. Divorce has never been good for the family, and this Protestant movement was a divorce for the body of Christ. The people in the movement of the Protestant Reformation changed many doctrines of the Deposit of Faith such as the number of Sacraments instituted by Christ and the teaching on how we are saved. The Popes during the sixteenth century saw the need to protect the Church from Protestantism so Cardinals, Bishops, and heads of religious orders were summoned to the Council of Trent. The Church called the Council of Trent not only to guard the Church against the heresy of the Protestant Reformation, but also to bring about the right kind of reform that the Church needed.Therefore the Catholic Reformation, or Counter-Reformation, was started. Many Saints of the Church took an active role of guarding the Deposit of Faith during the Counter-Reformation. Some were involved in the Council of Trent and others helped implement the decrees set forth by Trent after the council finished. These Saints performed the work of God so that with the protection of the Holy Spirit, we have her still today, as the true Church of Christ.
The links in the menu to the left provide a brief look at some of the saints who guarded the Deposit during the Protestant Reformation.