Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Political Factors
The popes of the 19th century were deeply influenced by factors that were already underway prior to their time. This is our summary of the political factors.
CONTENTS
1. The Gallican Articles
1629-1780 AD
Gallicanism is the belief that the secular government has authority over the Catholic Church, like the authority of a pope.
One of the major figures in the development of Gallicanism was a French theologian named Edmund Richer (1559-1631). In 1610, he argued for a more democratic conception of both Church and state:
- Christ is the essential head of the church
- The pope is the “ministerial” head of the church
- The State protects the church
Subsequently he was imprisoned for his views.
In 1629, Cardinal Richelieu pressured Richer to recant his ideas, under pressure from. The Cardinal was afraid of the political ramifications of a democratic nation-state.
In 1638, a French scholar named Pierre Dupuy argued for Royal supremacy over the church in France, even to the exclusion of papal rights.
In 1681, Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet wrote a four-page document called the Declaration of the Clergy of France. It codified the principles of Gallicanism into a system consisting of four points:
- The pope has no authority over any prince
- Papal power is limited by Ecumenical Councils
- Papal power is limited by local decrees and customs
- A papal teaching only becomes official only after the entire Church submits to it
In 1682, the French clergy promulgated the Declaration.
The Declaration had four points. Those four points are referred to as the Gallican Articles.
King Louis XIV ordered the Declaration to be promulgated from all the pulpits of France. He required theology students and faculty to agree to the articles, and he forbade anybody from writing anything against the four articles.
The Vatican was not thrilled. In 1682, Pope Innocent XI voided and annulled the 1681 Assembly. He refused to appoint as bishop anybody who did not renounce the Gallican Articles.
In 1691, Pope Alexander VIII promulgated an apostolic constitution called Inter multiplices pastoralis officii. It quashed the entire proceedings of the 1681 Assembly and declared that the Declaration of the Clergy of France was null, void and invalid.
In 1693, King Louis XIV rescinded the Gallican Articles and wrote a letter of retraction to the pope.
That said, the Gallican Articles continued to be professed by the majority of the French clergy. They were defended in the schools of theology. The government suppressed works that seemed hostile to the Articles.
In 1790, the ideas embodied in the Gallican Articles resurfaced. It was during the French Revolution, and written into the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
That same year, Cardinal François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis (1715-1794) quoted the pope’s views regarding the Gallican Articles. In essence, it was that there was some clash between papal interests and state interests, but that they could discuss it.
In sum, the Gallican Articles represent a longstanding struggle between the Catholic church in France versus the papacy. It deeply shaped the popes of the 19th century.
2. Suppression of the Jesuits
The suppression of the Jesuits was the culmination of bitter opposition from many nations spanning at least 33 years.
1. Jansenism
In the minds of many people, the success of the Catholic Reformation in Europe was due to the Jesuits. Other Catholic groups became jealous of the success of the Jesuits. Fueled by jealousy, they bitterly criticized the Jesuits.
A pamphlet came out complaining that the Jesuits only minister to the rich and powerful. This complaint also came out during the Jansenist controversy, which was a debate over grace.
There was a Catholic movement called Jansenism. It was a fresh approach to the ancient debate of free will versus divine grace. It began in 1640 when a book called Augustinus was published. It was by a Dutch bishop named Cornelius Jansen.
The people who embraced these teachings were called Jansenists. They were morally rigorist. That made them hostile toward the Jesuits, as the Jesuits promoted a Laxist position.
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. He entered the controversy on the side of the Jansenists.
In 1750, a treaty between Spain and Portugal required some territorial border adjustments in South America, requiring the forced resettlement of Indigenous Peoples. The Jesuits protested; Portugal and Spain were furious at the Jesuits.
2. Portugal
In Portugal, the Marquis of Pombal (1699–1782), often referred to as Pombal, was an untouchable politician and popular hero. He looked for a way to reduce Jesuit influence in Portugal.
In 1758, Pombal persuaded the aged pope Benedict XIV to appoint the Portuguese cardinal Francisco de Saldanha da Gama to investigate allegations against the Jesuits.
However, Pombal withheld from the pope that he was a friend of Cardinal Saldanha and would exploit the friendship to achieve his own political purposes.
Cardinal Saldanha accused the Jesuits of taking on trade. He seized their property.
In 1759, as the Minister of State, Pombal gave the Jesuits an ultimatum: they were to flee the Portuguese Empire or be imprisoned. The papal nuncio was expelled from Portugal. Some Jesuits were arrested and executed.
3. France
The Jesuits had formed a trading company that overextended its credit. Some English pirates seized their ship and the trading company went bankrupt. Who should pay the debt?
In May 1761 the French Parliament declared the whole Jesuit order responsible for the debt. Jesuit property was seized and the Jesuits were expelled from France.
Then the French government pressured the papacy to abolish the Jesuits.
4. Spain
In March 1763 the king of Spain made a law about clothing style. Riots ensued. Parliament had to shut down.
The Jesuits were blamed. They were expelled from Spain.
5. Pope Clement XIV
In 1769, upon support from Austria, pope Clement XIV thought of suppressing the Jesuits. To that end, he began withdrawing their privileges.
An anti-Jesuit bishop from Mexico was canonized a saint.
In 1773, Clement issued a papal bull entitled Dominus ac Redemptor. It accused the Jesuits of being a problem and suppressed the Jesuit order. It basically said they were poison from the beginning.
Many Jesuits became incardinated into a diocese and served as diocesan priests. Others escaped to Russia until the Jesuits were reconstituted.
3. Josephinism
Joseph II was the emperor of the Holy Roman Emperor from 1765–1790. His domestic policies are referred to as Josephinism.
His empire had expanded out to include many religions, cultures, nationalities. He found it too difficult to unify this polyglot empire. So he enacted drastic laws.
One of those laws was the placet. It meant the bishops had to correspond with him before they could correspond with the pope. He even regulated the number of candles that could be used at the Mass. This served to waken the bonds of the local Church to Rome.
In 1786, the Punctation of Ems was signed by a congress of bishops. They decreed that religious were no longer exempt from civil courts, that bishops could select which papal teachings to follow, and that tithes no longer needed to be paid to Rome.
4. Febronianism
A Catholic bishop in Germany was named Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim (1701–1790). In 1763, using the pseudonym of Justinus Febronius, he wrote a book called De statu ecclesiae et legitima potestae Romani pontificis.
He began with the principles of Gallicanism but took them much further. He aimed to nationalize the Catholic faith. He aimed to restrict the power of the papacy in favor of the national episcopate. And he aimed to reunite with dissident churches.
The book aroused considerable excitement and controversy. It ignited a powerful movement. People referred to the movement as Febronianism, based on the pseudonym of the author.
However, the papacy rejected it. In 1764, pope Clement XIII formally condemned it. He commanded all the bishops of Germany to suppress the book.
That said, people thirsted for a church like Febronius envisioned.
19th CENTURY PAPACY
MAJOR ERAS:
- Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Political Factors
- Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Religious Factors
- The Papacy of Pius VII: 1800-1823
- The papacy of Leo XII: 1823-1829
- The papacy of Pius VIII: 1829-1830
- The papacy of Gregory XVI: 1831-1846
- The papacy of Pius IX: 1846-1878
- The papacy of Leo XIII: 1878-1903
SEE ALSO: References, Church History
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