Protestant ReformationThe practices of the Catholic Church in the 16th century led a monk named Martin Luther to question the ways of the Church. Luther saw families suffer physically, emotionally, and economically at the hands of the Church. Luther saw no reason for the Church to blame people for their sins or prevent them from learning to read the Bible themselves. He saw money hoarding the Palace, while destroying the fundamental and spiritual reasons why people go to church in the first place. In an effort to change the practices of the Church, he wrote the 95th Thesis. In these he expressed his views on the abuses of the Church. It was the beginning of a vast movement that would change religious practices around the world. Martin Luther was not alone in thinking that the Church needed to reform its practices. Among those who broke with the Roman Catholic Church were John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli and even the King of England, Henry VIII. Everyone questioned the practices of the Church based on their own beliefs. Some of them shared similar spiritual theories, others were very different. After translating the Bible into German, Martin Luther paved the way for Lutheranism. Luther believed that one should not repent of one's sins through payment or indulgences. He believed that we simply had to have faith in Christ and that salvation came from God. Luther also believed that priests should not be celibate. His beliefs also rejected ideas of purgatory. Finally, Lutheranism did not consider transubstantiation in the same way as Catholicism. Although Lutheranism maintained practices closest to the Catholic Church, it was their abuse of these sacraments that caused Luther to reform. His original intention was not to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that he died to atone for the sins of every man. The marked difference during the Reformation was the removal of the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestants had neither pope nor bishop at the head of their Church. They were happy to have the freedom to pray and pray alone or with other Protestants. Thanks to the invention of the printing press, followers of the Roman Catholic Church now had the ability to read the Bible for themselves. They were given the opportunity to choose their own religion based on educated reading, rather than ignorance in matters of faith. And while not all Protestant beliefs are entirely the same, they allow for the choice to live outside of the Church and have a spiritual life that is not measured by threats and monetary contributions for the betterment of the Church. Catholic Church and its leaders..