Roger Price

Pastoral Care: The Clergy and the People of God

This chapter shifts the emphasis to the day-to-day responsibilities of the parish clergy (Sect. 4.1); in administering the sacraments (Sect. 4.2), and transmitting the Church’s message (Sect. 4.3) through the processes of childhood socialization—illustrating the key role of women; by means of formal catechizing; of increasingly frequent and inquisitorial confession—involving among other matters a campaign against contraception; through preaching which combined an emphasis on the tender and forgiving heart of Jesus with an Old Testament-inspired religion of fear; through schooling, control of which was so important; through the rapidly developing religious media; by means of ceremonies; of missions; and the pilgrimages associated with visions of the Virgin Mary. The message, and the means of transmission defined, it becomes possible to begin to consider response(s).

Doctrine: The Move Towards Rome

This chapter focuses on the evolution of religious doctrine during the post-revolutionary decades of ‘reconquest’. The introduction reviews fundamental teachings on the purpose of life as well as debates on the Holy Family and Papal Infallibility. Section 3.2 is concerned with the lessons of history and their influence on theological debate. The determination to create a universal community of faith and the emergence of Pius IX as the charismatic symbol of the crusade against modern evils is considered in Sects. 3.3 and 3.4. The growing popularity of devotion to the Virgin Mary is the subject of Sect. 3.5. Section 3.6 moves on to the decision to summon a Council of the Church with the explicit objectives of confirming the previous declarations of Papal Infallibility and crushing critics of Papal authoritarianism. The Council was represented as a massive moral victory over the forces of Evil, more than compensating for the final destruction of the temporal power of the Papacy by invading Italian forces in 1870.

God’s Church

This chapter defines the Catholic Church’s institutional structures and considers the organization’s historical capacity for renewal. Section 2.2 identifies the sources of authority within the Church as well as the bases of State-Church relations and Sect. 2.3 considers the respective roles of State and Church in the appointment of bishops, as well as the social origins of these key figures, their education, responsibilities, self-perceptions, and attitudes towards growing Papal centralization. Sections 2.4 and 2.5 consider the recruitment and training of priests. Section 2.6 is concerned with the means of imposing discipline within hierarchical ecclesiastical structures. The importance of the expansion of the religious orders is stressed in Sect. 2.7 together with the restoration of the material fabric of the Church, and the construction, extension and decoration of numerous churches.

The Practice of Religion

The introduction to this chapter considers the diversity of religious ‘practice’ between individuals, within and between communities and social milieu, over space and across time. Section 7.2 enters into the sociology of religion by considering Religious Practice within Social Elites and examining (re-)Christianization as one response to revolution and social change. Religious faith offered consolation in moments of crisis; the public display of faith provided a means of reinforcing social status and legitimizing hierarchical relationships. Religion also confirmed the importance of gendered sub-cultures. Section 7.3 focuses on Popular Religion and considers the ways in which the cultural revolution associated with socio-economic and political transformation affected religious sensibilities in both rural and urban France. If ‘de-christianization’ does not appear to be the appropriate label for these developments, detachment was certainly under way, even as the clergy and Catholic laity searched for ways of stimulating popular religiosity and countering the rise of anti-clericalism.

The Protection of Moral Order

The Introduction considers the clergy’s sense of mission and identifies perceived obstacles to the accomplishment of its objectives (Sect. 5.1). These included (Sect. 5.2) heresy—associated with Protestantism, Judaism—encouraging widespread anti-semitism; ‘materialism’—including the introduction of modern technology as well as aspects of popular sociability (including dancing); and revolution. The long-term aim was the creation of a ‘perfect society’ (Sect. 5.3) defined by a social doctrine based largely on a ‘ruralist’ discourse, as well as efforts to comprehend and solve the threats posed by urban poverty. Moral regeneration also depended on Censorship (Sect. 5.4) and attempts to protect the public from immoral novels, to safeguard theological orthodoxy, and to combat the biblical criticism associated with Renan, as well as scientific challenges to religious Truth.

Saints and Sinners

Section 6.1 in this chapter identifies le bon pretre in terms of the expectations of both bishops and parishioners. Section 6.2 reflects on the trials and tribulations of parish life while Sect. 6.3 reveals how, and in spite of the morally irreproachable lives of most priests, the reputation of the Church might be traduced by the transgressions (or simply rumours) concerning a small minority. These might result from excesses involving gluttony, alcohol or sex, including the abuse of children. Firm conclusions concerning the frequency of such activity, then and now, are rendered difficult by the determination of senior clergy and government officials to protect the reputation of the Church. In conclusion the abuse of children is treated as an emblematic issue, illustrative of serious institutional shortcomings.

An Authoritarian Alliance, 1851–1859

This chapter reviews Church-State relations during a decade in which close collaboration between the two authoritarian institutions prevailed. The Church played a key role in legitimising the regime of the coup d’etat and in return received substantial state support, in spite of tension over the Concordat and education, and the challenges posed to the Gallican traditions of the French Church by mounting Ultramontane enthusiasm. Consideration is given to the religious outlook of the Emperor, courtiers, ministers and senior government officials, and its impact on decision making. Growing government concern about the ‘excessive’ demands made by the clergy and its clerico-Legitimist associates became increasingly evident.

The Roman Question

This chapter examines French military intervention in Italy in 1859, the collapse of Papal authority in the temporal states, and the anxiety caused amongst French Catholics, a concern renewed in 1864 by the prospect of the withdrawal of the French garrison protecting Rome and subsequent need for renewed military intervention, developments which stimulated a massive rallying to the cause of the Pope through prayer, petitions, donations and recruits for the Papal army. The widespread sense of betrayal amongst Catholics also stimulated growing political opposition to the regime and, on the part of the State, a curtailment of the political freedom previously enjoyed by the Church.

Revolution and Empire: Reconstructing the Church, 1789–1815

This chapter considers the dominating spiritual, social and political presence of the pre-revolutionary clergy as well as emerging tensions—partly linked to the Enlightenment. Part II provides a description of the traumatic revolutionary crisis, successive challenges to the ‘truth’ of Catholicism, the confiscation of the property of the Church and the enforcement of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy—key factors in the development of counter-revolution. Part III examines the establishment of a conservative republic, the reawakening of public religious life and the negotiation of the Napoleonic Concordat which would provide the legal basis for close collaboration between Church and State until 1905.

The Search for a New Equilibrium: Towards the Liberal Empire, 1859–1870

This chapter considers growing Catholic opposition to the imperial regime. In an atmosphere of mounting crisis, due additionally to a republican revival and to strikes, the representatives of both Church and State appreciated their shared interest in social order. In moves towards a liberal empire, the ability of Catholics, and conservatives more generally, to exercise greater control over the regime was reinforced, and the alliance between throne and altar re-established. The confidence of the clergy was further reinforced by the Ecumenical Council in Rome (Vatican I) and its triumphant affirmation of Papal authority. Simultaneously, however, catastrophic military defeat brought the Empire crashing down and was seen by the clergy to be a further manifestation of God’s determination to punish France.