1534–1549

The beginning of Catholic reform under Paul III

Pope Paul III had led a rather worldly life before his election, yet he became the first reforming pope. He appointed reform-minded cardinals, including the future Paul IV, Carafa. In 1536 he set up a commission to draft a programme of church reform. Its 1537 report exposed numerous abuses and, to the papacy's displeasure, fell into Protestant hands. Paul III recognized the Jesuit order in 1540, and in 1542 he established the Congregation of the Holy Office – the Roman Inquisition.

Reconciliation with the Lutherans at the 1541 Colloquy of Regensburg failed. Even so, under Paul III Catholic reform took on a centralized, papally-driven character. It persisted under his successors to the end of the sixteenth century. The Church's moral and disciplinary life changed, but not its doctrine or institutions.