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Relations with the Catholic Church: The Concordat - Coggle Diagram
Relations with the Catholic Church: The Concordat
The Catholic church
Summer 1800 - Napoleon made proposals to improve relation with the Catholic Church in France
Catholic church had been in conflict with the state since 1790
Under Directory, many parish churches had already been reopened and priests persuaded to officiate
Repression of the revolutionary period revived Catholic public worship
Napoleon sought a rapprochement with the Pope
Catholicism became identified with the royalist cause
Napoleon's view of the Catholic church
He was brought up a Catholic - Became Jacobin and the became an agnostic if not an atheist
Napoleonic legend was to have him die in the Catholic faith
Only followed Catholicism so that his coronation could follow the imperial tradition of Charlemagne
He appreciated the power of religion to act as a 'social bond'
He understood the importance that its official re-establishment would have in bringing an end to the religious schism
Religious peace would help to bring political and social peace to France
Terms of the Concordat
Napoleon set about 'rebuilding the altars' with the proviso that 'this religion must be in the hands of the government'
Discussions with the papacy lasted many months and 21 different drafts were drawn up before the Concordat was finally signed on 16 july 1801
One of the most controversial policies initiated by Napoleon
Main terms of the agreement
Ending of separation of church and state
Catholic church would recognise the Revolution and agreed that no attempt would be made to recover church lands lost since 1789
State-controlled Church was established
Clergy became civil servants, appointed by the government and bound to it by oath
Catholic worship - 'the religion of the great majority of citizens' should be freely exercised in France
Public worship should be 'in conformity with police regulations which the government shall deem necessary for public peace
Other religious faiths were tolerated under the Concordat
Structure of the Concordat
It was published by Napoleon in April 1802 as part of a wide ranging ecclesiastical law on to which he tacked the so called 'Organic Articles'
Organic articles = series of clauses limiting Papal control over French bishops while increasing state control over the Clergy.
The Imperial Catechism
1806 - Napoleon standardised numerous existing church catechisms
He was able to turn a necessary church reform to support his own political needs
Questions and Answers of catechisms - taught in schools and carried a clear message not agreeable to the Pope
Napoleon's Relationship with the Catholic church
Frequently tense following the Concordat
He angered the Pope Pius VII - He ordered that the Church throughout the empire should celebrate 16 August
16th August - St Napoleon's day, unceremoniously removing previous saints of that date
The cult of the Emperor had reached its peak
Blatant interference in Church affairs for political and personal advantage
Napoleon's religious activities were intended entirely to produce loyal soldiers and civil servants
The Church was no longer the privileged First Estate it had been under the ancien régime
Napoleon achieved the acceptance by the leadership of the Catholic Church of a government that was not led by a legitimate Bourbon prince