Formulary controversy
Encyclopedia
The Formulary Controversy, in 17th century France
, pitted the Jansenists against the Jesuits. It gave rise to Blaise Pascal
's Lettres Provinciales
, the condemnation by the Vatican
of Casuistry
, and the final dissolution of organised Jansenism.
(1545–1563), the Roman Catholic Church
had reaffirmed, as against Protestantism
, both the reality of human liberum arbitrium (free will) and the necessity of grace
. Catholicism was then divided into two main interpretations, Augustinism and Thomism
, which both agreed on predestination
and on efficacious grace, which meant that people cannot resist God's grace
, although it did not cancel free will. Augustinism was rather predominant, in particular in the Catholic University of Leuven
, where a rigid form of Augustinism, Baianism
, was condemned by the Vatican in 1567.
Following the Council, two rival theories emerged in the Church. Under the influence of the ideas of the Renaissance
, the newly-founded Society of Jesus
asserted the role of free will, with authors such as George de Montemajor, Gregory de Valentia, Leonardus Lessius
and Johannes Hamelius (1554–1589). The Jesuit Luis Molina
thereafter published in 1588 his treaty De liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis, divina praescientia, praedestinatione et reprobatione concordia, which stressed that God offers His grace to all people, and that it was by an act of free will that each one accepted it or rejected it. Molina's theology
of a sufficient grace became popular, but was opposed by large sectors of the Church who found it incompatible with God's sovereignty. In opposition to Jesuit theologians espousing Molina's view, the Jansenists espoused Augustinism, which insisted on an efficacious grace. The Jesuits thus accepted Augustine's assertion of the necessity of grace, but rejected his conception of it as being infallibly efficient and of being granted to only a small number of elected people. A similar controversy opposed Dominicans
to Jesuits, which led Pope Clement VIII to establish the Congregatio de Auxiliis
(1597–1607) in order to settle the debate. Although the issue seemed unfavorable to Molinism
, the issue finally was suspended rather than solved. In 1611 and 1625, a decree from the Holy See prohibited any publication concerning this theme, although it was often informally violated by writings presented as commentaries of Thomas Aquinas
.
which attempted to conflate Jesuits with Pelagianism by highlighting Augustine's propositions. His complete work was published posthumously, first in 1640 in Leuven, then the following year in Paris and in 1642 in Rouen
. Jansenius' publication re-ignited the debate appeased by the Congregatio de Auxiliis. Finally, under the requests of the Brussels
' nuncio
Stravius and Fabio Chigi, nuncio in Cologna (and future Pope Alexander VII), Pope Urban VIII condemned Jansenius by the In Eminenti papal bull in 1642, but in a very general manner and without any particular precision. In France, Cardinal Richelieu himself was strongly opposed to Jansenius, not least because the latter was also the author of a pamphlet
against his policies and alliances with German states, titled Mars gallicus (1635). Richelieu therefore charged Isaac Habert, the theologist of Notre-Dame, to preach against Pelagius, while he nominated Alphonse Le Moyne as a professor to the Sorbonne University in order to refutate the Augustinus. However, many theologians of the Sorbonne opposed him, as they mostly followed Augustinism's insistence on efficacious grace. But the Jansenists of the convent of Port-Royal were Le Moyne's and Habert's main opponents. In 1638, Richelieu had its leader, Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, who had been a friend of Jansenius, detained in Vincennes
, but this only gave him further influence as a martyr
.
After Richelieu's death in 1642, however, the Jansenists were able to reply to the attacks against Jansenius, first by a writing titled the Sanctus Augustinus per seipsum docens, attributed to the Oratorian Colin du Juanet (sometimes to Antoine Arnauld
), and then, in 1644–45, by two Apologies pour M. Jansénius (Apologies for Jansenius) by Antoine Arnauld, which enjoyed great success.
In opposition to Jansenism, a little group of theological doctors from the Sorbonne
then extracted 8 propositions of Jansenius's Augustinus
, later reduced to 5 (in 1649), treating of the problems concerning the relation between nature and grace
. They accused Jansenius of having misinterpreted St. Augustine
, one of the main Fathers of the Church, conflating Jansenists with Lutherans – in the frame of a highly conflictual context, which had led to the Wars of Religion
, officially ended with the 1598 Edict of Nantes
. This led Pope Innocent X
to condemn on May 31, 1653 these 5 propositions in the Cum Occasione papal bull
, and again ten years later. In 1654, the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld
replied to this attack by making a distinction between de jure and de facto: de jure, the incriminated propositions could be condemned, and he accepted this sentence; but de facto, they could not be found in Jansenius' treaty. The Sorbonne then attempted to exclude Arnauld from being a theologian. Arnauld was forced underground, while in January 1654 an almanach
attributed to the Jesuits grossly presented the Jansenists as under-cover Calvinists. Port-Royal replied to this attack by a poem, titled the Enluminures, written by Louis-Isaac Lemaître de Sacy (author of a French translation of the Bible, called Bible de Port-Royal).
Pascal then wrote the famous Lettres provinciales
(1657) in defense of Arnauld, in which he harshly attacked the Jesuits and their morality, in particular casuistry
. This led the Holy See
to condemn casuistry in 1666 and 1679. Following this anonymous publication, the King sent spies everywhere, condemned the librarians who had clandestinely published the Lettres provinciales and unsuccessfully attempted to discover the author of the Lettres provinciales. The theological debate had turned into a political and theological affair.
, and, before him, Nicolas Caussin
, while the Cardinal Mazarin strongly opposed Jansenists), both in Europe and abroad (with the Jesuit Reductions
and the missions in China
) then persuaded the Pope to force all Jansenists to sign a formulary leading them to admit the papal bull and to confess to their faults. The Assembly of the French Clergy
hereafter decided to impose on all priests the signature of an anti-Jansenist formulary, in which each one accepted the papal condemnation. One of Pascal's last texts would be the Ecrit sur la signature du Formulaire in 1661 in which he adamantly opposed the signature of the formulary, radicalizing Arnauld's position: Pascal claimed that to condemn Jansenius was equivalent to condemning the Father of the Church Augustine.
The Jansenists of Port-Royal, Antoine Arnauld
, Pierre Nicole
, la Mère Angélique
, Soeur Agnès
, etc., were forced to sign the formulary. Although ostensibly obeying to Papal authority, they added that the condemnation would only be effective if the 5 allegedly heretical propositions were in fact found in Jansenius' Augustinus, and claimed that they did not figure there. The Jansenists' reasoning was that the Pope had of course the power to condemn heretical propositions, but not to make that what did not figure in Jansenius' Augustinus be there. This strategy would impose decades of theological disputes and debate, thus allowing them to gain time.
The Lettres Provinciales stimulated several responses from the Jesuits, including in 1657 the publication of an anonymous Apologie pour les casuistes contre les calomnies des jansénistes (Apology of the Casuists Against the Jansenists' Calumnies), written by Father Georges Pirot, which rather unfortunately claimed as its own Pascal's interpretations of the Casuists' propositions, in particular concerning controversial propositions about homicide
s. This led the friars of Paris to condemn Jesuit casuistry. From then on, the Jansenists of Port-Royal ceased the risky publication of the Lettres Provinciales, and, along with Pascal, started collaborating with the Ecrits des curés (Friars' Writings) which condemned Casuistry. Pirot's anonymous Apology was also condemned by the Holy See, the Vatican putting it at the Index by a decree of Alexander VII of 21 August 1659, while two further decrees, of 24 September 1665 and 18 March 1666, condemned the Casuists' "laxist morality" – Innocent XI issued a second condemnation by a 2 March 1679 decree. In total, the Vatican had condemned 110 Propositions issued by Casuists, 57 of which had been treated in the Provinciales. The books put on the Index in Rome were however published in France, and Jesuits had beforehand bypassed the Holy See's censorship by publishing controversial books there.
On the other hand, Pascal and some other Jansenists adopted a radical strategy, alleging that condemning Jansenius was equivalent to condemning the Father of the Church, St. Augustine himself, and adamantly refused to sign the formulary, with or without reserve. This in turn led to the further radicalization of the King and of the Jesuits, and in 1661 the Convent of Port-Royal was closed and the Jansenist community dissolved – it would be ultimately razed in 1710 on orders of Louis XIV
. The controversy did not involve only Papal authority, but rather his authority concerning the interpretation of texts
– something Pascal recalled by quoting the Jesuit Cardinal Bellarmin's sentences concerning the authority of religious councils concerning matters of dogma versus de facto issues.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, pitted the Jansenists against the Jesuits. It gave rise to Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
's Lettres Provinciales
Lettres provinciales
The Lettres provinciales are a series of eighteen letters written by French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte...
, the condemnation by the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
of Casuistry
Casuistry
In applied ethics, casuistry is case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning...
, and the final dissolution of organised Jansenism.
Context
During the Council of TrentCouncil of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
(1545–1563), the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
had reaffirmed, as against Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, both the reality of human liberum arbitrium (free will) and the necessity of grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
. Catholicism was then divided into two main interpretations, Augustinism and Thomism
Thomism
Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...
, which both agreed on predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
and on efficacious grace, which meant that people cannot resist God's grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
, although it did not cancel free will. Augustinism was rather predominant, in particular in the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
, where a rigid form of Augustinism, Baianism
Baianism
Baianism is a term applied to the theology of Catholic theologian Michael Baius . It claims thorough Augustinianism over the scholasticism which held sway over most Catholic theologians at the time...
, was condemned by the Vatican in 1567.
Following the Council, two rival theories emerged in the Church. Under the influence of the ideas of the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, the newly-founded Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
asserted the role of free will, with authors such as George de Montemajor, Gregory de Valentia, Leonardus Lessius
Leonardus Lessius
Leonardus Lessius was a Jesuit moral theologian and a pioneer in business ethics.-Life:...
and Johannes Hamelius (1554–1589). The Jesuit Luis Molina
Luis Molina
Luis de Molina , was a Spanish Jesuit priest and a staunch Scholastic defender of 'human liberty' in the Divine grace and human liberty controversy of the Renaissance ....
thereafter published in 1588 his treaty De liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis, divina praescientia, praedestinatione et reprobatione concordia, which stressed that God offers His grace to all people, and that it was by an act of free will that each one accepted it or rejected it. Molina's theology
Molinism
Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the providence of God with human free will. William Lane Craig is probably its best known advocate today, though other important Molinists include Alfred Freddoso, Alvin...
of a sufficient grace became popular, but was opposed by large sectors of the Church who found it incompatible with God's sovereignty. In opposition to Jesuit theologians espousing Molina's view, the Jansenists espoused Augustinism, which insisted on an efficacious grace. The Jesuits thus accepted Augustine's assertion of the necessity of grace, but rejected his conception of it as being infallibly efficient and of being granted to only a small number of elected people. A similar controversy opposed Dominicans
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
to Jesuits, which led Pope Clement VIII to establish the Congregatio de Auxiliis
Congregatio de Auxiliis
The Congregatio de Auxiliis was a commission established by Pope Clement VIII to settle a theological controversy regarding divine grace that arose between the Dominicans and the Jesuits towards the close of the sixteenth century...
(1597–1607) in order to settle the debate. Although the issue seemed unfavorable to Molinism
Molinism
Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the providence of God with human free will. William Lane Craig is probably its best known advocate today, though other important Molinists include Alfred Freddoso, Alvin...
, the issue finally was suspended rather than solved. In 1611 and 1625, a decree from the Holy See prohibited any publication concerning this theme, although it was often informally violated by writings presented as commentaries of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
.
Theological debate
In 1628, Jansenius, a professor at Leuven, started writing the Augustinus, a bulky treaty on St. AugustineSt. Augustine
-People:* Augustine of Hippo or Augustine of Hippo , father of the Latin church* Augustine of Canterbury , first Archbishop of Canterbury* Augustine Webster, an English Catholic martyr.-Places:*St. Augustine, Florida, United States...
which attempted to conflate Jesuits with Pelagianism by highlighting Augustine's propositions. His complete work was published posthumously, first in 1640 in Leuven, then the following year in Paris and in 1642 in Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. Jansenius' publication re-ignited the debate appeased by the Congregatio de Auxiliis. Finally, under the requests of the Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
' nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
Stravius and Fabio Chigi, nuncio in Cologna (and future Pope Alexander VII), Pope Urban VIII condemned Jansenius by the In Eminenti papal bull in 1642, but in a very general manner and without any particular precision. In France, Cardinal Richelieu himself was strongly opposed to Jansenius, not least because the latter was also the author of a pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
against his policies and alliances with German states, titled Mars gallicus (1635). Richelieu therefore charged Isaac Habert, the theologist of Notre-Dame, to preach against Pelagius, while he nominated Alphonse Le Moyne as a professor to the Sorbonne University in order to refutate the Augustinus. However, many theologians of the Sorbonne opposed him, as they mostly followed Augustinism's insistence on efficacious grace. But the Jansenists of the convent of Port-Royal were Le Moyne's and Habert's main opponents. In 1638, Richelieu had its leader, Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, who had been a friend of Jansenius, detained in Vincennes
Vincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
, but this only gave him further influence as a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
.
After Richelieu's death in 1642, however, the Jansenists were able to reply to the attacks against Jansenius, first by a writing titled the Sanctus Augustinus per seipsum docens, attributed to the Oratorian Colin du Juanet (sometimes to Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
), and then, in 1644–45, by two Apologies pour M. Jansénius (Apologies for Jansenius) by Antoine Arnauld, which enjoyed great success.
In opposition to Jansenism, a little group of theological doctors from the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
then extracted 8 propositions of Jansenius's Augustinus
Augustinus
The Augustinus seu doctrina Sancti Augustini de humanae naturae sanitate, aegritudine, medicina adversus Pelagianos et Massilianses, known as the Augustinus, was a theological work in Latin by Cornelius Jansen...
, later reduced to 5 (in 1649), treating of the problems concerning the relation between nature and grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
. They accused Jansenius of having misinterpreted St. Augustine
St. Augustine
-People:* Augustine of Hippo or Augustine of Hippo , father of the Latin church* Augustine of Canterbury , first Archbishop of Canterbury* Augustine Webster, an English Catholic martyr.-Places:*St. Augustine, Florida, United States...
, one of the main Fathers of the Church, conflating Jansenists with Lutherans – in the frame of a highly conflictual context, which had led to the Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
, officially ended with the 1598 Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
. This led Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
to condemn on May 31, 1653 these 5 propositions in the Cum Occasione papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
, and again ten years later. In 1654, the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
replied to this attack by making a distinction between de jure and de facto: de jure, the incriminated propositions could be condemned, and he accepted this sentence; but de facto, they could not be found in Jansenius' treaty. The Sorbonne then attempted to exclude Arnauld from being a theologian. Arnauld was forced underground, while in January 1654 an almanach
Almanach
Almanach is an album by Malicorne. As before, it has a complex sound. The arrival of Hughes de Courson has given the album a more classical feel.- Track listing :# "Salut à la compagnie" – 0:55# "Quand j'étais chez mon père" – 3:44...
attributed to the Jesuits grossly presented the Jansenists as under-cover Calvinists. Port-Royal replied to this attack by a poem, titled the Enluminures, written by Louis-Isaac Lemaître de Sacy (author of a French translation of the Bible, called Bible de Port-Royal).
Pascal then wrote the famous Lettres provinciales
Lettres provinciales
The Lettres provinciales are a series of eighteen letters written by French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte...
(1657) in defense of Arnauld, in which he harshly attacked the Jesuits and their morality, in particular casuistry
Casuistry
In applied ethics, casuistry is case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning...
. This led the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
to condemn casuistry in 1666 and 1679. Following this anonymous publication, the King sent spies everywhere, condemned the librarians who had clandestinely published the Lettres provinciales and unsuccessfully attempted to discover the author of the Lettres provinciales. The theological debate had turned into a political and theological affair.
Formulary controversy
On 16 October 1656, Pope Alexander VII again condemned the 5 propositions in the Ad sacram papal bull, specifying that they were condemned "in the sense of Jansenius," but without stating which sense was to be understood. The Jesuits, who then enjoyed predominant political and theological power (including a personal confessor to the King of France, François AnnatFrançois Annat
François Annat was a French Jesuit, theologian, writer, and one of the foremost opponents of Jansenism.He was born in Rodes, and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus on 16 February 1607. He was professor of philosophy for six years, and theology for seven, in the college of his order in...
, and, before him, Nicolas Caussin
Nicolas Caussin
Nicolas Caussin was a French Jesuit, a theorist of the passions. His treatise, The Holy Court Fourth Tome, was published in 1638. This work gives a Christianized account of what he calls the four principal passions: Love, Desire, Anger, and Envy, as well as many variants and sub-genres of these...
, while the Cardinal Mazarin strongly opposed Jansenists), both in Europe and abroad (with the Jesuit Reductions
Jesuit Reductions
A Jesuit Reduction was a type of settlement for indigenous people in Latin America created by the Jesuit Order during the 17th and 18th centuries. In general, the strategy of the Spanish Empire was to gather native populations into centers called Indian Reductions , in order to Christianize, tax,...
and the missions in China
Jesuit China missions
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in continuing the transmission of...
) then persuaded the Pope to force all Jansenists to sign a formulary leading them to admit the papal bull and to confess to their faults. The Assembly of the French Clergy
Assembly of the French clergy
The Assembly of the French Clergy was in its origins a representative meeting of the Catholic clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy of the French Catholic Church by the kings of France...
hereafter decided to impose on all priests the signature of an anti-Jansenist formulary, in which each one accepted the papal condemnation. One of Pascal's last texts would be the Ecrit sur la signature du Formulaire in 1661 in which he adamantly opposed the signature of the formulary, radicalizing Arnauld's position: Pascal claimed that to condemn Jansenius was equivalent to condemning the Father of the Church Augustine.
The Jansenists of Port-Royal, Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
, Pierre Nicole
Pierre Nicole
Pierre Nicole was one of the most distinguished of the French Jansenists.Born in Chartres, he was the son of a provincial barrister, who took in charge his education...
, la Mère Angélique
Marie Angelique Arnauld
Jacqueline-Marie-Angélique Arnauld or Arnault, called La Mère Angélique was abbess of Port Royal, a center of Jansenism....
, Soeur Agnès
Agnès Arnauld
Jeanne-Catherine-Agnès Arnauld , known as Mother Agnès Arnauld, was a member of the Arnauld family, abbess of Port-Royal and a major figure in French Jansenism....
, etc., were forced to sign the formulary. Although ostensibly obeying to Papal authority, they added that the condemnation would only be effective if the 5 allegedly heretical propositions were in fact found in Jansenius' Augustinus, and claimed that they did not figure there. The Jansenists' reasoning was that the Pope had of course the power to condemn heretical propositions, but not to make that what did not figure in Jansenius' Augustinus be there. This strategy would impose decades of theological disputes and debate, thus allowing them to gain time.
The Lettres Provinciales stimulated several responses from the Jesuits, including in 1657 the publication of an anonymous Apologie pour les casuistes contre les calomnies des jansénistes (Apology of the Casuists Against the Jansenists' Calumnies), written by Father Georges Pirot, which rather unfortunately claimed as its own Pascal's interpretations of the Casuists' propositions, in particular concerning controversial propositions about homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
s. This led the friars of Paris to condemn Jesuit casuistry. From then on, the Jansenists of Port-Royal ceased the risky publication of the Lettres Provinciales, and, along with Pascal, started collaborating with the Ecrits des curés (Friars' Writings) which condemned Casuistry. Pirot's anonymous Apology was also condemned by the Holy See, the Vatican putting it at the Index by a decree of Alexander VII of 21 August 1659, while two further decrees, of 24 September 1665 and 18 March 1666, condemned the Casuists' "laxist morality" – Innocent XI issued a second condemnation by a 2 March 1679 decree. In total, the Vatican had condemned 110 Propositions issued by Casuists, 57 of which had been treated in the Provinciales. The books put on the Index in Rome were however published in France, and Jesuits had beforehand bypassed the Holy See's censorship by publishing controversial books there.
On the other hand, Pascal and some other Jansenists adopted a radical strategy, alleging that condemning Jansenius was equivalent to condemning the Father of the Church, St. Augustine himself, and adamantly refused to sign the formulary, with or without reserve. This in turn led to the further radicalization of the King and of the Jesuits, and in 1661 the Convent of Port-Royal was closed and the Jansenist community dissolved – it would be ultimately razed in 1710 on orders of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. The controversy did not involve only Papal authority, but rather his authority concerning the interpretation of texts
– something Pascal recalled by quoting the Jesuit Cardinal Bellarmin's sentences concerning the authority of religious councils concerning matters of dogma versus de facto issues.
See also
- JansenismJansenismJansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
- MolinismMolinismMolinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the providence of God with human free will. William Lane Craig is probably its best known advocate today, though other important Molinists include Alfred Freddoso, Alvin...
- Congregatio de AuxiliisCongregatio de AuxiliisThe Congregatio de Auxiliis was a commission established by Pope Clement VIII to settle a theological controversy regarding divine grace that arose between the Dominicans and the Jesuits towards the close of the sixteenth century...
(a similar debate between the Jesuits and the DominicansDominican OrderThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
) - Port-Royal des Champs
- Port-Royal-de-ParisPort-Royal Abbey, ParisPort-Royal Abbey was an abbey in Paris that was a stronghold of Jansenism. It was first built in 1626 to relieve pressure of numbers on the mother house at Port-Royal-des-Champs....
- UnigenitusUnigenitusUnigenitus , an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713, opened the final phase of the Jansenist controversy in France...
1713 papal bull condemning 101 Jansenist propositions of Pasquier QuesnelPasquier QuesnelPasquier Quesnel was a French Jansenist theologian.He was born in Paris, and, after graduating from the Sorbonne with distinction in 1653, he joined the French Oratory in 1657...