During this time period, the Catholic Church experienced great difficulties and turmoil. This period is known as the Reformation, and the Church experienced many challenges that arose due to critics such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII.
If you had to experience this as a Catholic priest, you would probably be concerned with explaining what the Church stands for and why the criticism is unfair. Most likely, you would believe that these critics are self-involved and that they want to obtain personal benefits that the Church does not allow (such as marriage of priests or divorce). Finally, you would most likely appeal to tradition in order to defend the importance of the Church in the life of common people.