Pope Paul did not call the Council of Trent in order to address Church reform. The disappointing program of his chosen reformers in the 1530s, along with consuming political challenges, meant that reform had slipped down and virtually off his list of achievable goals. Instead, his major goals for the Council were to bring three other intractable problems of his pontificate – peace between Christian princes, unity in the Church, and defeat of the infidel – to a universal forum where maximum pressure could be exerted for their resolution. These were intertwined with an overarching goal of preserving and augmenting his honour through delivering on his long-time public commitment to hold this highest of forums. While Paul allowed reform to be considered, he ensured that the boundaries of that consideration were tightly drawn.

As early as December 1537, just nine months after presentation of the Consilium, there was talk in Rome of reform being over. The activity of the new reform Commission, in particular its focus on the Datary, was well-matched by the reform opposition and hindered by the new Commissioners who were of a different ilk than the Consilium authors. Not long after publication of Loreri's incisive memorial on the validity of compositions, it was being said in Rome that: ‘The reform of the Datary has gone up in smoke’.

While the pope continued to encourage the work of the Commission, he showed no sign of taking reform action.