Pope

=== Reformation to present (1517 to today) ===
[[File:Council Trent.jpg|thumb|As part of the Catholic Reformation, [[Pope Paul III]] (1534–1549) initiated the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563), which established the triumph of the papacy over those who sought to reconcile with Protestants or oppose papal claims.]]

[[Protestant Reformers]] criticized the papacy as corrupt and characterized the pope as the [[antichrist]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FyTeW7vQ8K4C&pg=PA61 |page=61; cf. pp. 62, 274 |title=When Time Shall be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture |isbn=978-0-674-02861-6 |last1=Boyer |first1=Paul |date=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |access-date=15 August 2015 |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819074246/https://books.google.com/books?id=FyTeW7vQ8K4C&pg=PA61 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=toXLsJ28BvAC&pg=PA90|first=Mark U. Jr.|last=Edwards|title=Printing, Propaganda and Martin Luther|publisher=Fortress Press|year=2004|isbn=978-1-4514-1399-1|page=90|access-date=18 February 2013|archive-date=19 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319004016/https://books.google.com/books?id=toXLsJ28BvAC&pg=PA90|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Hillerbrand+%22identified+the+Pope%22|first=Hans Joachim|last=Hillerbrand|title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2004|volume=1|page=124|access-date=18 February 2013|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308194716/https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Hillerbrand+%22identified+the+Pope%22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lMOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA301|first=John|last=Osborne|title=Luther|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1967|page=301|access-date=18 February 2013|archive-date=19 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319005301/https://books.google.com/books?id=1lMOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA301|url-status=live}}</ref>

Popes instituted a [[Counter-Reformation|Catholic Reformation]]<ref name="World History" /> (1560–1648), which addressed the challenges of the Protestant Reformation and instituted internal reforms. [[Pope Paul III]] initiated the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563), whose definitions of doctrine and whose reforms sealed the triumph of the papacy over elements in the church that sought conciliation with Protestants and opposed papal claims.<ref>"Counter-Reformation". Cross, FL, ed., ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church''. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref>

Gradually forced to give up secular power to the increasingly assertive [[History of Europe#Nations rising|European nation states]], the popes focused on spiritual issues.<ref name="World History" /> In 1870, the [[First Vatican Council]] proclaimed the [[dogma]] of [[papal infallibility]] for the most solemn occasions when the pope speaks {{lang|la|[[ex cathedra]]}} when issuing a definition of faith or morals.<ref name="World History">Wetterau, Bruce. World history. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1994.</ref> Later the same year, [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy]] [[Capture of Rome|seized Rome]] from the pope's control and substantially completed the [[Italian unification|unification of Italy]].<ref name="World History" />

In 1929, the [[Lateran Treaty]] between the [[Kingdom of Italy]] and the Holy See established [[Vatican City]] as an independent [[city-state]], guaranteeing papal independence from secular rule.<ref name="World History" />

In 1950, [[Pope Pius XII]] defined the [[Assumption of Mary]] as dogma, the only time a pope has spoken {{lang|la|ex cathedra}} since papal infallibility was explicitly declared.

The [[Primacy of Simon Peter|Primacy of St. Peter]], the controversial doctrinal basis of the pope's authority, continues to divide the eastern and western churches and to separate Protestants from Rome.