Today marks the opening of the Council of Trent. The 1911 Catholic Encycloepdia writes: “The nineteenth ecumenical council opened at Trent on 13 December, 1545, and closed there on 4 December, 1563. Its main object was the definitive determination of the doctrines of the Church in answer to the heresies of the Protestants; a further object was the execution of a thorough reform of the inner life of the Church by removing the numerous abuses that had developed in it.”
(1911 Catholic Encyclopedia)
(1911 Catholic Encyclopedia)