Council of Trent Opens

December 13, 1545

In the alpine town of Trent, bishops convened the general council that Protestants had been demanding and Rome had been dreading. Over eighteen years in three sessions, Trent would reaffirm Catholic doctrine, reform clerical abuses, and give the Counter-Reformation its spine. Trent's decrees reshaped Catholic worship and education for four centuries, establishing the seminary system and standardizing the Mass.