July 11, 1533: Pope Clement VII Excommunicates King Henry VIII | Papal Artifacts

On July 11, 1533 Pope Clement VII excommunicates England's King Henry VIII. From the article:

"Henry VIII’s request for a dispensation from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon went largely unheeded by Clement since Catherine’s nephew happened to be Emperor Charles V. His refusal to grant the dispensation resulted in the great schism in England in 1534, shortly before Clement’s death. Henry had his marriage to Catherine declared void and married Anne Boleyn in January of 1533 which resulted in his excommunication by Clement on July 11 of the same year.

Meanwhile, with all the turmoil over the loss of England, Martin Luther’s attack on the primacy of the Popes and clerical corruption could not but succeed. Charles V actually aided the Reformation by allowing Luther to extend his influence throughout Germany. What might have affected the outcome was a general council, which Clement did not call, thereby hastening the effects and increasing the popularity of the Protestant reform.

Reform was obviously needed within the Catholic Church itself. Even as early as 1517, attempts had been made to reform notoriously corrupt religious orders. Several confraternities made up of both lay people and clergy were uniting to provide devout priests to administer sacraments and lead morally exemplary lives. These newly formed orders were joined by reformed orders and they not only practiced penance, something sorely missing from the secularized practices they were engaged in, but also they served the needs of the poor. By 1534, Ignatius of Loyola organized a spiritual army to fight heresy and to be at the service of the pope. They called themselves The Society of Jesus, the Jesuits and they became the chief means of bringing about constructive change within a morally compromised church. Their establishment of Catholic universities and their missionary work made them the papacy’s chief defenders and they are still influential to the present day."