3. The Orthodox churches are not part of the Roman Catholic Church. By the way, many (probably most) Protestant churches recite the Apostles Creed with 'catholic' in it. The word, of course, means universal. Well-informed Protestants will often say that they are 'catholics' in that sense.
4. Many Protestants would argue that at the time of the Reformation Christianity in the West had become so corrupted that its roots had been mostly ignored. It adopted too many pagan rites and beliefs. It focused on doctrines, on heaven and hell and purgatory, on church authority, and adding a variety of superstitions so that it was all but cut off from its roots. Reformation means re-forming.
By the way, you've pushing me into arguing the Protestant viewpoint. I am not lining up with any one side here, but simply arguing for the end of this silly confrontation going on almost 500 years now. It's time Christians let 'think and let think' - a favorite quote of mine borrowed from John Wesley.
5. The Bible has many, many problems. If I had to believe it literally to be a Christian I would have to abandon my faith. Traditional Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants both are guilty of accepting Biblical accounts that are historically false, scientifically weak and/or ethically outrageous. If time I would supply many illustrations of each. One illustration. Would God regret that he had made humankind (a mistake!), then decide to drown everybody except Noah and his family?
6. I can't take time to document the notion that the Pope essentially replaced the emperor in ancient Rome, when that empire fell apart. There are so many parallels. When I was in Rome and had an audience with the Pope (along with thousands) I was struck by the veneration that was directed toward him. People were shouting 'Viva le papa" (sp), the same chant that hailed the emperor 2000 years ago. I don't present this as an established fact, but some scholars have sought to document it.
7. Even some contemporary Catholic scholars have come to the conclusion that the Papacy mishandled Luther. Luther was targeting corruption and abuse of the sacrament of penance (buy your way or family members out of purgatory). Luther had no alternatives but to repent or take a courageous stand ("Here I stand; I can do no other.").
8. Yes, Luther married a nun, Katerina von Bora?. They had a family - was it six children? One legend is that he wrote "Away in a Manger" for his children. It probably isn't true, one of hundreds of pious legends that too often become accepted as facts over time. That's certainly true of many of the biographies of saints - how they levitated, bilocated, etc.
9. The story of Luther finding refuge in the castle of a prince is well-known. As I recall he translated the Bible into German while there. He wanted the scriptures in the language of the people. The language of worship, too, one of the changes initiated by the Reformation that Vatican II finally found acceptable.
10. The Counter-Reformation did at least these two things. It sought to correct some of the corruption and abuses which existed in the church. It also - in some respects - made rigid Catholicism more entrenched and deeply anti-Protestant.
11. Pentecostalism is likely the fastest growing branch of Christianity today, especially strong among Latinos, sub-Saharan Africans (particularly Nigerians) and in S. Korea where one local parish in Seoul claims 750,000 members, the largest local church of any flavor in the world! The Assemblies of God are the largest Pentecostal group. The charismatic movement entered Catholicism at a Duquesne University retreat - in 1967 was it? It has swindled around here, but I hear that it still flourishes in parts of Catholicism, especially among Hispanics.
12. Protestantism may have started in protest, but it was aimed at removing what it regarded as accummulated corruption and a return to the pure Christianity of Jesus. Humankind being what it is, the purity of the church is impossible to maintain fully - witness the sexual scandal that became public in recent years. Protestantism has its serious weaknesses, too, of course.
Again, all this is not to diminish Catholicism so much as to undergird the view that there are strong points to be made by all sides. Over time my opinion gradually has developed both a respect for and a skepticism of all faiths, plus the recognition that no church is the 'one true church'. I find this an insult to God in that it suggests that one church understands the essential mysteries of this vast universe. I don't believe any of us understand those. What a billion or more galaxies out there! We all are pilgrims together, and we should regard one another as fellow travelers (well, not in the old political sense, of course!) and respect the path others may choose to follow.
God bless the whole world - no exceptions, well, except for deliberate bigots and terrible terrorists.