After the Reformation got into swing and Rome started losing significant numbers of followers Rome responded with the Counter-Reformation. The basic plan was unfolded at the Council of Trent . After the Council of Trent the Secretariat of State was heavily developed to create a diplomatic network of Nuncios. How effective is the Secretariat of State? Would the Protestant movement have been more successful without their machinations?

I confess my knowledge of church history branches at about the Reformation. I know a quite a bit about Catholicism today, and I have an idea of what it was before the Reformation. These are not at all the same thing. What changes inside the Roman Catholic church, either in practice or doctrine, are directly attributed to the events of the Reformation? How soon after the reformation was this change visible/acknowledged?

The protestant reformation had a large impact on the Catholic Church, but even know much of the reformers concerns apply to the Eastern Orthodox Church as well, it seems that there never was a reformation in this Church. How so?

I've long wondered about this. Wikipedia's article on Erasmus notes: >While he was critical of the abuses within the Church and called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther and Melanchthon and continued to recognise the authority of the pope. Erasmus emphasized a middle way, with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, and rejected Luther's emphasis on faith alone. Erasmus therefore remained a member of the Catholic Church all his life. Erasmus remained committed to reforming the Church and its clerics' abuses from within. He also held to Catholic doctrines such as that of free will, which some Reformers rejected in favour of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered scholars in both camps. So what "abuses" was he critical of, and what kinds of "reforms" did he want?

Were there any writings from the counter-reformation which had arguments in support of the idea that Martin Luther was a/the Antichrist? He seems to fit the bill. He initiated a great apostasy from the true faith which carries on to this day and led to an enduring culture of schism in Western Christianity, fuelled by his illogical Sola Scriptura doctrine. The "lawless one" and "the man of sin, the son of perdition" seem to apply nicely to him. Did anyone from the counter reformation identify Luther as "the lawless one", "the man of sin", "the son of perdition" or "the antichrist"?

Recently I learned that modern Roman Catholic hymnals include Martin Luther's well-known hymn, *[A Mighty Fortress Is Our God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mighty_Fortress_Is_Our_God)* . Investigating further on [hymnary.org](http://www.hymnary.og) , however, I find that the song is not found in apparently popular Roman Catholic hymnals from (http://www.hymnary.org/hymnal/CHBC1851) and (http://www.hymnary.org/hymnal/ACH1913) . I am speculating that the inclusion of the song only became possible after [counter-reformation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Reformation) bad blood between Roman Catholics and Martin Luther waned. Thus, I'd like to know which was the first popular/official* Roman Catholic hymnal to include the hymn. Bonus points for an answer that takes into account non-English hymnals, but an English-only answer is fine too. *Note that I do not know how much oversight the Roman Catholic church exercises over its hymnals. I'm looking for a hymnal popular or official enough that it indicates at least broad acceptance of the hymn.