Jansenism
Encyclopedia
Jansenism 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. It was first popularized by Jansen's friend Jean du Vergier, Abbé de Saint-Cyran
, and after Saint-Cyran's death in 1643 was led by Antoine Arnauld
. Through the 17th and into the 18th centuries, Jansenism was a distinct movement within the Roman Catholic Church. The theological centre of the movement was the Parisian convent of Port-Royal
, which was a haven for writers including Saint-Cyran, Arnauld, Pierre Nicole
, Blaise Pascal
, and Jean Racine
.
Jansenism was opposed by many in the Catholic hierarchy, especially the Jesuits
. Although the Jansenists identified themselves only as rigorous followers of Augustinism, Jesuits coined the term "Jansenism" to identify them as having Calvinist
affinities. The papal bull
Cum occasione, issued by Pope Innocent X
in 1653, condemned five cardinal doctrines of Jansenism as heresy
— especially the relationship between human free will
and efficacious grace, wherein the teachings of Augustine contradicted the teachings of the Jesuit School. Jansenist leaders endeavored to accommodate the pope's pronouncements while retaining their distinctives, and enjoyed a measure of peace in the late 17th century under Pope Clement IX
. However, further controversy led to the bull
Unigenitus
, issued by Pope Clement XI
in 1713, which marked the end of Catholic toleration of Jansenist doctrine.
The origins of Jansenism lie in the friendship of Cornelius Jansen
and Jean du Vergier de Hauranne
, who met in the early 17th century when both were studying theology
at the Catholic University of Leuven
. As the wealthier of the two, du Vergier served as Jansen’s patron for a number of years, getting Jansen a job as a tutor in Paris
in 1606. Two years later, he got Jansen a position teaching at the bishop's college in du Vergier’s hometown of Bayonne
. The duo studied the Church Fathers
together, with a special focus on the thought of Augustine of Hippo
, until both left Bayonne in 1617.
Du Vergier became the abbot
of Saint-Cyran
and was thus generally known as the Abbé de Saint-Cyran for the rest of his life. Jansen returned to the Catholic University of Leuven, where he completed his doctorate in 1619 and was named professor for exegesis
. Jansen and Saint-Cyran continued to correspond about Augustine, especially Augustine's teachings on grace
. Upon the recommendation of King Philip IV of Spain
, Jansen was consecrated as Bishop of Ypres in 1636.
Jansen died in the midst of an epidemic in 1638. On his deathbed, he committed a manuscript to his chaplain
, ordering him to consult with Libert Fromondus
, a theology professor at Leuven, and Henri Calenus, a canon
at the metropolitan church, and to publish the manuscript if they agreed it should be published, adding "If, however, the Holy See
wishes any change, I am an obedient son, and I submit to that Church in which I have lived to my dying hour. This is my last wish."
This manuscript, published in 1640 under the title Augustinus, styled itself as expounding Augustine's system and formed the basis for the subsequent Jansenist Controversy. It consisted of three volumes:
Even before the publication of Augustinus, Saint-Cyran had begun publicly preaching Jansenism. Jansen emphasised a particular reading of Augustine's idea of efficacious grace which stressed that only a certain portion of humanity were predestined
to be saved. Jansen insisted that the love of God was fundamental, and that only contrition
, and not simple attrition
, could save a person (and that, in turn, only an efficacious grace could tip that person toward God and such a contrition). This debate on the respective roles of contrition and attrition, which had not been settled by the Council of Trent
(1545–1563), was one of the motives of the imprisonment in May 1638 of Saint-Cyran, the first leader of Port-Royal, by order of Cardinal Richelieu. Saint-Cyran was not released until after Richelieu's death in 1642, and he died shortly thereafter, in 1643.
Jansen also insisted on justification by faith, although he did not contest the necessity of revering saints
, of confession
, and of frequent Communion
. Jansen’s opponents (mainly Jesuits) condemned his teachings for their alleged similarities to Calvinism
(though, unlike Calvinism, Jansen rejected the doctrine of assurance
and taught that even the justified could lose their salvation). Blaise Pascal
's Écrits sur la grâce, based on what Michel Serres
has called his "anamorphotic
method," attempted to conciliate the contradictory positions of Molinists and Calvinists by stating that both were partially right: Molinists, who claimed God's choice concerning a person's sin and salvation was a posteriori and contingent, while Calvinists claimed that it was a priori and necessary. Pascal himself claimed that Molinists were correct concerning the state of humanity before the Fall, while Calvinists were correct regarding the state of humanity after the Fall.
The heresy of Jansenism, meaning here its denial of Catholic doctrine, is that it denies the role of free will in the acceptance and use of grace. Jansenism asserts that God's role in the infusion of grace is such that it cannot be resisted and does not require human assent. The Catholic teaching is that "God's free initiative demands man's free response" (CCC 2002)—that is, the gift of grace requires human assent.
Augustinus was widely read in theological circles in France
, Belgium
, and Holland in 1640, and a new edition quickly appeared in Paris under the approbation of 10 professors at the Sorbonne
.
However, on August 1, 1641, the Holy Office
issued a decree condemning Augustinus and forbidding its reading. In 1642, Pope Urban VIII
followed up with a papal bull
entitled In eminenti, which condemned Augustinus on the grounds that (1) it was published in violation of the order that no works concerning grace should be published without the prior permission of the Holy See; and (2) the work repeated several errors of Baianism
which had been condemned by Pope Pius V
's 1567 bull, Ex omnibus afflictionibus.
In 1634, Saint-Cyran had become the spiritual adviser of Port-Royal-des-Champs, a Cistercian convent in Magny-les-Hameaux
. The Abbess
of Port-Royal-des-Champs was Marie Angélique Arnauld
, who had become abbess in 1609 and reformed the discipline of the convent. In 1625, most of the nuns moved to Paris, forming the convent of Port-Royal de Paris, which from then on was commonly known simply as Port-Royal
, while the term Port-Royal-des-Champs was used for the convent in Magny-les-Hameaux. Saint-Cyran became good friends with Abbess Marie-Angélique and convinced her of the rightness of Jansen's opinions. The two Port Royal convents thus became major strongholds of Jansenism. Under Marie-Angélique, later with Saint-Cyran's support, Port-Royal-des-Champs developed a series of elementary schools, known as the "Little Schools of Port-Royal" (Les Petites-Écoles de Port-Royal); the most famous product of these schools was the playwright Jean Racine
.
Through Abbess Marie-Angélique, Saint-Cyran had met her brother, Antoine Arnauld
, and brought him to accept Jansen's position in Augustinus. Following Saint-Cyran's death in 1643, Arnauld became the chief proponent of Jansenism. In 1643, he published a book De la fréquente Communion (On Frequent Communion
) which presented Jansen's ideas in a way more accessible to the public (e.g. it was published in French
, whereas Augustinus was available only in Latin
). The book, as its title indicated, also focussed on a related topic in the dispute between Jesuits and Jansenists. The Jesuits encouraged Catholics, including those struggling with sin, to receive Holy Communion frequently, arguing that Christ instituted it as a means to holiness for sinners, and stating that the only requirement for receiving Communion (apart from baptism) was that the communicant be free of mortal sin at the time of reception. The Jansenists, in line with their deeply pessimistic theology, discouraged frequent Communion, arguing that a high degree of perfection, including purification from attachment to venial sin, was necessary before approaching the Sacrament.
The faculty of the Collège de Sorbonne
(the theological college of the University of Paris
) formally accepted the bull In eminenti in 1644, and the Archbishop of Paris
, Jean-François de Gondi
, formally proscribed Augustinus; the work nevertheless continued to circulate.
Then Jesuits attacked the Jansenists, claiming they were guilty of heresy similar to that of the Calvinists. In response, Arnauld wrote Théologie morale des Jésuites (Moral Theology of the Jesuits), which was the basis of most of the arguments later used by Pascal
in his Provincial Letters denouncing the "relaxed morality" of Jesuitism
. The Jesuit Nicolas Caussin
, former spiritual director to Louis XIII, was charged by his order with writing a defense against Arnauld's book, titled Réponse au libelle intitulé La Théologie morale des Jésuites (1644). Other works published against Arnauld's Moral Theology of the Jesuits included the one was written by the Great Jesuit polemist François Pinthereau (1605–1664), under the pseudonym of "the abbé de Boisic", titled Les Impostures et les ignorances du libelle intitulé: La Théologie Morale des Jésuites (1644), who was also the author of a critical history of Jansenism titled La Naissance du Jansénisme découverte à Monsieur le Chancelier (The Birth of Jansenism Revealed to the Chancellor, Leuven, 1654).
During the 1640s, Saint-Cyran's nephew, Martin de Barcos
, who had studied theology under Jansen, wrote several works defending his uncle.
In 1649, the syndic
of the Sorbonne, Nicolas Cornet
, frustrated by the continued circulation of the Augustinus, drew up a list of five propositions from Augustinus and two propositions from De la fréquente Communion and asked the Sorbonne faculty to condemn the propositions. Before the faculty could do so, the Parlement de Paris intervened, forbidding the Sorbonne faculty to consider the propositions. The Sorbonne faculty then determined to forward the propositions to the General Assembly of the Clergy
, which met in 1650. In the assembly, 85 of the French bishops voted to refer the matter to Pope Innocent X
. Eleven of the bishops opposed this move, and asked the pope to appoint a commission similar to the Congregatio de Auxiliis
to resolve the situation. Innocent X agreed to the majority's request, but in an attempt to accommodate the view of the minority, appointed an advisory committee consisting of five cardinals
and thirteen consultors to report on the situation. Over the next two years, this commission held 36 meetings, 10 of which Innocent X presided over in person.
The supporters of Jansenism on the commission drew up a table with three heads: the first listed the Calvinist position (which was condemned as heretical), the second listed the Pelagian/Semipelagian position (as taught by the Molinists), and the third listed the correct Augustinian
position (according to the Jansenists).
Jansenism's supporters suffered a decisive defeat when Innocent X issued the bull Cum occasione on May 31, 1653. The bull condemned the following five propositions:
Replying to Arnauld, in 1654, 38 French bishops condemned Arnauld's position to the pope. Opponents of Jansenism in the church refused absolution
to Roger du Plessis, duc de Liancourt for his continued protection of the Jansenists. In response to this onslaught, Arnauld articulated a distinction as to how far the Church could bind the mind of a Catholic. He argued that there is a distinction between de jure and de facto—that a Catholic was obliged to accept the Church's opinion as to a matter of law (i.e. as to a matter of doctrine) but not as to a matter of fact. Arnauld argued that, while he agreed with the doctrine propounded in Cum Occasione, he was not bound to accept the pope's determination of fact as to what doctrines were contained in Jansen's work.
In 1656, the theological faculty at the Sorbonne moved against Arnauld. This was the context in which Blaise Pascal
wrote his famous Provincial Letters
in defence of Arnauld's position in the dispute at the Sorbonne. (However, unlike Arnauld, Pascal did not himself accept Cum occasione and believed that the condemned doctrines were orthodox. Nevertheless, he emphasised Arnauld's distinction about matters of doctrine vs. matters of fact.) The letters were also scathing in their critique of the casuistry
of the Jesuits, echoing Arnauld's Théologie morale des Jésuites.
However, Pascal was unable to convince the Sorbonne's theological faculty, and they voted 138–68 to expel Arnauld together with 60 other theologians from the Sorbonne. Later that year, the French Assembly of the Bishops voted to condemn Arnauld's distinction between the pope's ability to bind the mind of believers in matters of doctrine but not in matters of fact; they asked Pope Alexander VII
to condemn Arnauld's proposition as heresy. The pope responded with the bull Ad Sanctam Beati Petri Sedem (dated October 16, 1656) in which he stated "We declare and define that the five propositions have been drawn from the book of Jansenius entitled Augustinus, and that they have been condemned in the sense of the same Jansenius and we once more condemn them as such."
In 1657, relying on Ad Sanctam Beati Petri Sedem, the French Assembly of the Clergy drew up a formulation of faith condemning Jansenism and declared that subscription to the formula was obligatory. Many Jansenists remained firmly committed to Arnauld's formula; although they would accept the conclusions of Cum Occasione, they would not agree that the propositions were contained in Jansen's Augustinus. In retaliation, the Archbishop of Paris, Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz
suspended the convent of Port Royal from receiving the Sacraments. In 1660, the elementary schools run by Port-Royal-des-Champs were closed by bull, and in 1661, the monastery at Port-Royal-des-Champs was forbidden to accept new novices, which guaranteed the monastery would eventually die out.
, Bishop of Angers (brother of Antoine and Angélique Arnauld); Nicolas Choart de Buzenval, Bishop of Beauvais; François-Etienne Caulet
, Bishop of Pamiers; and Nicolas Pavillon
, Bishop of Alet) sided with Port-Royal, arguing that the French Assembly of the Clergy could not command French Catholics to subscribe to something which was not required by the pope. At the urging of several bishops, and at the personal insistence of King Louis XIV, Pope Alexander VII sent to France the apostolic constitution
Regiminis Apostolici (dated February 15, 1664) which required all French Catholics to subscribe to the following formulary
:
. Many Jansenists refused to sign the formulary; whilst some did sign, they made it known that they were agreeing only to the doctrine (questions de jure), not the allegations asserted by the bull (questions de facto, or of facts). The latter category included the four Jansenist-leaning bishops, who communicated the bull to their flocks along with messages which maintained the distinction between doctrine and fact. This angered both Louis XIV and Alexander VII, and the pope appointed a committee of nine French bishops to investigate the situation.
However, before this committee acted, Alexander VII died on May 22, 1667. His successor, Pope Clement IX
, initially appeared to be willing to continue the move against the Jansenist-leaning bishops. However, in France, the Jansenists conducted a campaign arguing that allowing a papal commission of this sort would be ceding the traditional liberties of the Gallican Church
, thus playing on traditional French opposition to ultramontanism
. They convinced one member of the cabinet (Lyonne) and nineteen bishops of their position. As a result, these bishops wrote to Clement IX, arguing that the infallibility of the Church
applied only to matters of revelation
, and not to matters of fact. They asserted that this was the position of Caesar Baronius
and Robert Bellarmine
. They also sent a letter to Louis XIV, arguing that great severity would result in political discord.
Under these circumstances, the papal nuncio to France recommended that Clement IX seek a peaceful accommodation with the Jansenists. Clement agreed, and appointed César d'Estrées
, Bishop of Laon as mediator in the matter (he was to be assisted by two bishops who had signed the letter to the pope, Louis-Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Archbishop of Sens and Félix Vialart de Herse, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne). D'Estrées convinced the four bishops to sign the formulary (though it seems they may have believed that signing the formulary did not mean assent to the matters of fact it contained). The pope, initially happy that the four bishops had signed, became angry when he was informed that they had done so with reservations. Clement IX ordered his nuncio to conduct a new investigation' reporting back, the nuncio declared: "they have condemned and caused to be condemned the five propositions with all manner of sincerity, without any exception or restriction whatever, in every sense in which the Church has condemned them". However, he reported that the four bishops continued to be evasive as to whether they agreed with the pope as to the matter of fact. In response, Clement appointed a commission of twelve cardinals to further investigate the matter. This commission determined that the four bishops had signed the formulary in a less than entirely sincere manner, but nevertheless recommended that the matter should be dropped in order to forestall further divisions in the Church. The pope agreed and thus issued four briefs, declaring the four bishops' agreement to the formulary was acceptable, thus instituting the "Peace of Clement IX" (1669–1701).
The quasi-Jansenists served as protectors of the "duped Jansenists" and the fins Jansénistes.
The tensions generated by the continuing presence of these elements in the French church came to a head in the Case of Conscience of 1701. The case involved the question of whether or not absolution
should be given to a cleric who refused to affirm the infallibility of the Church in matters of fact (even though he did not preach against it but merely maintained a "respectful silence"). A provincial conference, consisting of forty theology professors from the Sorbonne, headed by Noël Alexandre
, declared that the cleric should receive absolution.
The publication of this "Case of Conscience" provoked outrage amongst the anti-Jansenist elements in the Catholic Church. The decision was condemned by several French bishops; by Louis-Antoine de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris; by the theological faculties at Leuven, Douai
, and eventually Paris; and, finally, in 1703, by Pope Clement XI
. The Sorbonne professors who had signed the Case of Conscience now backed away, and all of the signatories withdrew their signatures and the theologian who had championed the result of the Case of Conscience, Nicolas Petitpied, was expelled from the Sorbonne.
Louis XIV and his grandson, Philip V of Spain
, now asked the pope to issue a papal bull condemning the practice of maintaining a respectful silence as to the issue of the infallibility of the Church in matters of dogmatic fact.
The pope obliged, issuing the bull Vineam Domini Sabaoth, dated July 16, 1705. At the subsequent Assembly of the French Clergy
, all those present (except P.-Jean-Fr. de Percin de Montgaillard, Bishop of Saint-Pons) voted to accept the bull and Louis XIV promulgated the bull as binding law in France.
Louis also sought the dissolution of Port-Royal-des-Champs, the stronghold of Jansenist thought, and this was achieved in 1708, when the pope issued a bull dissolving Port-Royal-des-Champs. The remaining nuns were forcibly removed in 1709 and dispersed among various other French convents and the buildings were razed in 1709. The Convent of Port-Royal in Paris remained in existence until the time of the French Revolution
, when it was closed by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
, part of the general Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution
.
Pasquier Quesnel
had been a member of the Parisian Oratory
from 1657 to 1681, at which time he was expelled because of his Jansenism. He sought the protection of Pierre-Armand du Camboust de Coislin, Bishop of Orléans, who harboured Quesnel for four years, at which point Quesnel joined Antoine Arnauld in Brussels
. In 1692, Quesnel published a book which he had been working on since 1668, Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament (Moral Reflections on the New Testament), a devotional guide to the New Testament
which laid out the Jansenist position in strong terms. Following Arnauld's death in 1694, Quesnel was widely regarded as the leader of the Jansenists. In 1703, Quesnel was imprisoned by Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano
, Archbishop of Mechelen, but escaped several months later and lived in Amsterdam
for the remainder of his life.
The Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament did not initially arouse controversy; in fact, it was approved for publication by Felix Vialart, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne and recommended by Louis-Antoine de Noailles. Neither Vialart nor Noailles appears to have realised that the book had strongly Jansenist overtones, and had thought that they were simply approving a pious manual of devotion. However, in the years that followed, several bishops became aware of the book's Jansenist tendencies and issued condemnations: Ignace de Foresta, Bishop of Apt in 1703; Charles-Béningne Hervé, the Bishop of Gap in 1704; and in 1707 both the Bishop of Besançon and Edouard Bargedé, Bishop of Nevers. When the Holy Office
drew the Réflexions morales to the attention of Clement XI, he issued the papal brief
Universi dominici (1708), proscribing the book for "savouring of the Jansenist heresy."; as a result, in 1710, the Bishop of Luçon and the Bishop of La Rochelle forbade the reading of the book.
However, Louis-Antoine de Noailles, who was now the cardinal
Archbishop of Paris was embarrassed and reluctant to condemn a book he had previously recommended, and thus hesitated. As a result, Louis XIV asked the pope to settle the matter. The result was the bull Unigenitus
, dated September 8, 1713 which collected 101 propositions from the Réflexions morales and condemned them, "especially those contained in the famous propositions of Jansenius".
Those Jansenists who accepted the Unigenitus became known as Acceptants.
Upon examining the 101 propositions condemned by Unigenitus, Noailles determined that as set out in the bull and apart from their context in the Réflexions morales, some of the propositions condemned by Unigenitus were in fact orthodox. He therefore refused to accept the bull and instead sought clarifications from the pope.
In the midst of this dispute, Louis XIV died in 1715, and the government of France was taken over by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
, serving as regent
for the 5-year-old Louis XV of France
. Unlike Louis XIV, who had stood solidly behind Unigenitus, Orléans expressed ambivalence. With the change in political mood, three theological faculties which had previously voted to accept Unigenitus – Paris, Nantes
, and Reims
– voted to rescind their acceptance.
In 1717, four French bishops went even further, and attempted to appeal the papal bull to a general council
; the bishops were joined by hundreds of French priests, monks and nuns, and were supported by the parlements. In 1718, Clement XI responded vigorously to this challenge to his authority by issuing the bull Pastoralis officii by which he excommunicated everyone who had called for an appeal to a general council. Far from disarming the French clergy, many of whom were now advocating conciliarism
, the clergy who had appealed Unigenitus to a general council, now appealed Pastoralis officii to a general council as well. In total, one cardinal, 18 bishops, and 3,000 clergy of Frances supported an appeal to a general council. However, the majority in France (four cardinals, 100 bishops, 100,000 clergymen) stood by the pope. The schism carried on for some time, however, and it was not until 1728 that Noailles submitted to the pope.
The convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard
, religious pilgrims who experienced convulsions at the tomb of a Jansenist deacon who was buried at the cemetery of the parish of Saint-Médard in Paris, were associated with the continued Jansenist opposition to Unigenitus in the early years of the reign of Louis XV. The connection between the larger French Jansenist movement and the smaller, more radical convulsionnaire phenomenon is difficult to state with precision. As historian Brian E. Strayer has noted, almost all of the convulsionnaires were Jansenists, but very few Jansenists embraced the convulsionnaire phenomenon.
On the other hand, Pascal's denunciation of Jesuit casuistry and its "relaxed morality" also led Innocent XI to condemn (in 1679) sixty-five propositions which were taken chiefly from the writings of the Jesuits Escobar
and Suarez
. They were said to be propositiones laxorum moralistarum, and Innocent forbade anyone to teach them under penalty of excommunication.
Several Jansenist teachers also proposed a radical reform of the Latin liturgy.
Jansenism was also a factor in the formation of the independent Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands
from 1702 to 1723, and is said to continue to live on in some Ultrajectine
traditions.
In the Canadian province of Quebec, the widespread rejection of the Catholic Church and secularization of its institutions in the mid 1960s, was justified frequently by charges that the church in Quebec was "Jansenist."
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
movement, primarily in France
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...
, that emphasized original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
, human depravity
Total depravity
Total depravity is a theological doctrine that derives from the Augustinian concept of original sin...
, the necessity of divine 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...
, and 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...
. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638. It was first popularized by Jansen's friend Jean du Vergier, Abbé de Saint-Cyran
Jean du Vergier de Hauranne
Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, Abbé of Saint-Cyran was a French monk who introduced Jansenism into France.In the early 17th century, Jean du Vergier de Hauranne studied theology at the Catholic University of Leuven...
, and after Saint-Cyran's death in 1643 was led by 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...
. Through the 17th and into the 18th centuries, Jansenism was a distinct movement within the Roman Catholic Church. The theological centre of the movement was the Parisian convent of Port-Royal
Port-Royal Abbey, Paris
Port-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....
, which was a haven for writers including Saint-Cyran, Arnauld, 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...
, 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...
, and Jean Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
.
Jansenism was opposed by many in the Catholic hierarchy, especially the Jesuits
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...
. Although the Jansenists identified themselves only as rigorous followers of Augustinism, Jesuits coined the term "Jansenism" to identify them as having Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
affinities. The 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....
Cum occasione, issued by 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...
in 1653, condemned five cardinal doctrines of Jansenism as heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
— especially the relationship between human free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
and efficacious grace, wherein the teachings of Augustine contradicted the teachings of the Jesuit School. Jansenist leaders endeavored to accommodate the pope's pronouncements while retaining their distinctives, and enjoyed a measure of peace in the late 17th century under Pope Clement IX
Pope Clement IX
Pope Clement IX , born Giulio Rospigliosi, was Pope from 1667 to 1669.-Early life:Born Giulio Rospigliosi to a noble family of Pistoia, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, he was a pupil of the Jesuits. After receiving his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Pisa, he taught theology there...
. However, further controversy led to the 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....
Unigenitus
Unigenitus
Unigenitus , 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...
, issued by Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death in 1721.-Early life:...
in 1713, which marked the end of Catholic toleration of Jansenist doctrine.
Origins
Cornelius Jansen
Corneille Janssens, commonly known by the Latinized name Cornelius Jansen or Jansenius, was Catholic bishop of Ypres and the father of a theological movement known as Jansenism.-Biography:...
and Jean du Vergier de Hauranne
Jean du Vergier de Hauranne
Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, Abbé of Saint-Cyran was a French monk who introduced Jansenism into France.In the early 17th century, Jean du Vergier de Hauranne studied theology at the Catholic University of Leuven...
, who met in the early 17th century when both were studying theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
at 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...
. As the wealthier of the two, du Vergier served as Jansen’s patron for a number of years, getting Jansen a job as a tutor in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1606. Two years later, he got Jansen a position teaching at the bishop's college in du Vergier’s hometown of Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
. The duo studied the Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
together, with a special focus on the thought of Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, until both left Bayonne in 1617.
Du Vergier became the abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of Saint-Cyran
Saint-Cyran-du-Jambot
Saint-Cyran-du-Jambot is a commune in the Indre department in central France.Saint-Cyran’s origins lie with a monastic foundation first founded by Saint Sigiramnus in the 7th century. The foundation was first known as Saint-Pierre de Longoret but was later named after its founder...
and was thus generally known as the Abbé de Saint-Cyran for the rest of his life. Jansen returned to the Catholic University of Leuven, where he completed his doctorate in 1619 and was named professor for exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
. Jansen and Saint-Cyran continued to correspond about Augustine, especially Augustine's teachings on 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...
. Upon the recommendation of King Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
, Jansen was consecrated as Bishop of Ypres in 1636.
Jansen died in the midst of an epidemic in 1638. On his deathbed, he committed a manuscript to his chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
, ordering him to consult with Libert Fromondus
Libert Froidmont
Libert Froidmont , Haccourt-Liège 1587 - Louvain 1638, was a Belgian theologian and scientist. He has been a close companion to Cornelius Jansen and corresponded with Rene Descartes...
, a theology professor at Leuven, and Henri Calenus, a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
at the metropolitan church, and to publish the manuscript if they agreed it should be published, adding "If, however, 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...
wishes any change, I am an obedient son, and I submit to that Church in which I have lived to my dying hour. This is my last wish."
This manuscript, published in 1640 under the title Augustinus, styled itself as expounding Augustine's system and formed the basis for the subsequent Jansenist Controversy. It consisted of three volumes:
- Volume I described the history of PelagianismPelagianismPelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius , although he denied, at least at some point in his life, many of the doctrines associated with his name. It is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without...
and Augustine's battle against it and against SemipelagianismSemipelagianismSemipelagianism is a Christian theological and soteriological school of thought on salvation; that is, the means by which humanity and God are restored to a right relationship. Semipelagian thought stands in contrast to the earlier Pelagian teaching about salvation , which had been dismissed as...
. - Volume II contained a discussion of the Fall of Man and original sinOriginal sinOriginal sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
. - Volume III denounced a "modern tendency" (unnamed by Jansen but clearly identifiable as 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...
) as Semipelagian.
Jansenist theology
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...
to be saved. Jansen insisted that the love of God was fundamental, and that only contrition
Perfect contrition
Perfect contrition in Catholic theology is a repentance for sins which is motivated by the love of God...
, and not simple attrition
Imperfect contrition
Imperfect contrition in Catholic theology is a desire not to sin for a reason other than love of God. Imperfect contrition is contrasted with perfect contrition....
, could save a person (and that, in turn, only an efficacious grace could tip that person toward God and such a contrition). This debate on the respective roles of contrition and attrition, which had not been settled by the Council of Trent
Council 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), was one of the motives of the imprisonment in May 1638 of Saint-Cyran, the first leader of Port-Royal, by order of Cardinal Richelieu. Saint-Cyran was not released until after Richelieu's death in 1642, and he died shortly thereafter, in 1643.
Jansen also insisted on justification by faith, although he did not contest the necessity of revering saints
Intercession of saints
Intercession of the saints is a Christian doctrine held by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Anglican churches, that deceased saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for believers, and that it is possible to ask deceased saints for their prayers...
, of confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
, and of frequent Communion
Frequent Communion
Frequent Communion is the Roman Catholic practice of receiving the eucharist frequently, as opposed to the usual medieval practice of receiving it once or a few times a year. Pope Pius X pushed for the practice of frequent communion, relaxing restrictions on reception for the sick and children....
. Jansen’s opponents (mainly Jesuits) condemned his teachings for their alleged similarities to Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
(though, unlike Calvinism, Jansen rejected the doctrine of assurance
Assurance (theology)
Assurance is a Protestant Christian doctrine that states that the inner witness of the Holy Spirit allows the justified disciple to know they are saved. Based on the writings of St...
and taught that even the justified could lose their salvation). 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 Écrits sur la grâce, based on what Michel Serres
Michel Serres
Michel Serres is a French philosopher and author, celebrated for his unusual career.-Life and career:...
has called his "anamorphotic
Anamorphosis
Anamorphosis or anamorphism may refer to any of the following:*Anamorphosis, in art, the representation of an object as seen, for instance, altered by reflection in a mirror...
method," attempted to conciliate the contradictory positions of Molinists and Calvinists by stating that both were partially right: Molinists, who claimed God's choice concerning a person's sin and salvation was a posteriori and contingent, while Calvinists claimed that it was a priori and necessary. Pascal himself claimed that Molinists were correct concerning the state of humanity before the Fall, while Calvinists were correct regarding the state of humanity after the Fall.
The heresy of Jansenism, meaning here its denial of Catholic doctrine, is that it denies the role of free will in the acceptance and use of grace. Jansenism asserts that God's role in the infusion of grace is such that it cannot be resisted and does not require human assent. The Catholic teaching is that "God's free initiative demands man's free response" (CCC 2002)—that is, the gift of grace requires human assent.
Controversy and papal condemnation: 1640–1653
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...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and Holland in 1640, and a new edition quickly appeared in Paris under the approbation of 10 professors at the Sorbonne
Collège de Sorbonne
The Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne...
.
However, on August 1, 1641, the Holy Office
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
issued a decree condemning Augustinus and forbidding its reading. In 1642, Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
followed up with a 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....
entitled In eminenti, which condemned Augustinus on the grounds that (1) it was published in violation of the order that no works concerning grace should be published without the prior permission of the Holy See; and (2) the work repeated several errors of 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...
which had been condemned by Pope Pius V
Pope Pius V
Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
's 1567 bull, Ex omnibus afflictionibus.
In 1634, Saint-Cyran had become the spiritual adviser of Port-Royal-des-Champs, a Cistercian convent in Magny-les-Hameaux
Magny-les-Hameaux
Magny-les-Hameaux is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-References:*...
. The Abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of Port-Royal-des-Champs was Marie Angélique Arnauld
Marie Angelique Arnauld
Jacqueline-Marie-Angélique Arnauld or Arnault, called La Mère Angélique was abbess of Port Royal, a center of Jansenism....
, who had become abbess in 1609 and reformed the discipline of the convent. In 1625, most of the nuns moved to Paris, forming the convent of Port-Royal de Paris, which from then on was commonly known simply as Port-Royal
Port-Royal Abbey, Paris
Port-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....
, while the term Port-Royal-des-Champs was used for the convent in Magny-les-Hameaux. Saint-Cyran became good friends with Abbess Marie-Angélique and convinced her of the rightness of Jansen's opinions. The two Port Royal convents thus became major strongholds of Jansenism. Under Marie-Angélique, later with Saint-Cyran's support, Port-Royal-des-Champs developed a series of elementary schools, known as the "Little Schools of Port-Royal" (Les Petites-Écoles de Port-Royal); the most famous product of these schools was the playwright Jean Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
.
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 brought him to accept Jansen's position in Augustinus. Following Saint-Cyran's death in 1643, Arnauld became the chief proponent of Jansenism. In 1643, he published a book De la fréquente Communion (On Frequent Communion
Frequent Communion
Frequent Communion is the Roman Catholic practice of receiving the eucharist frequently, as opposed to the usual medieval practice of receiving it once or a few times a year. Pope Pius X pushed for the practice of frequent communion, relaxing restrictions on reception for the sick and children....
) which presented Jansen's ideas in a way more accessible to the public (e.g. it was published in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, whereas Augustinus was available only in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
). The book, as its title indicated, also focussed on a related topic in the dispute between Jesuits and Jansenists. The Jesuits encouraged Catholics, including those struggling with sin, to receive Holy Communion frequently, arguing that Christ instituted it as a means to holiness for sinners, and stating that the only requirement for receiving Communion (apart from baptism) was that the communicant be free of mortal sin at the time of reception. The Jansenists, in line with their deeply pessimistic theology, discouraged frequent Communion, arguing that a high degree of perfection, including purification from attachment to venial sin, was necessary before approaching the Sacrament.
The faculty of the Collège de Sorbonne
Collège de Sorbonne
The Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne...
(the theological college of the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
) formally accepted the bull In eminenti in 1644, and the Archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of twenty-three archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on...
, Jean-François de Gondi
Jean-François de Gondi
Jean-François de Gondi was the first archbishop of Paris, from 1622 to 1654.He was the son of Albert de Gondi and Claude Catherine de Clermont. He was a member of the Gondi family, which had held the bishopric of Paris for nearly a century, and would continue to do so after him. Jean-François...
, formally proscribed Augustinus; the work nevertheless continued to circulate.
Then Jesuits attacked the Jansenists, claiming they were guilty of heresy similar to that of the Calvinists. In response, Arnauld wrote Théologie morale des Jésuites (Moral Theology of the Jesuits), which was the basis of most of the arguments later used by 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...
in his Provincial Letters denouncing the "relaxed morality" of Jesuitism
Jesuitism
Jesuitism is a label given to particular casuistic approach to moral questions and problems often described by the adjective jesuitical, so called because it was promoted by some Jesuits of the 17th century rather than being the beliefs of the Society of Jesus as a religious order...
. The Jesuit 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...
, former spiritual director to Louis XIII, was charged by his order with writing a defense against Arnauld's book, titled Réponse au libelle intitulé La Théologie morale des Jésuites (1644). Other works published against Arnauld's Moral Theology of the Jesuits included the one was written by the Great Jesuit polemist François Pinthereau (1605–1664), under the pseudonym of "the abbé de Boisic", titled Les Impostures et les ignorances du libelle intitulé: La Théologie Morale des Jésuites (1644), who was also the author of a critical history of Jansenism titled La Naissance du Jansénisme découverte à Monsieur le Chancelier (The Birth of Jansenism Revealed to the Chancellor, Leuven, 1654).
During the 1640s, Saint-Cyran's nephew, Martin de Barcos
Martin de Barcos
Martin de Barcos was a French theologian of the Jansenist School.He was born at Bayonne, a nephew of Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, Abbot of Saint-Cyran, who sent him to Belgium to be taught by Cornelius Jansen...
, who had studied theology under Jansen, wrote several works defending his uncle.
In 1649, the syndic
Syndic
Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers.The meaning which underlies both applications is that of...
of the Sorbonne, Nicolas Cornet
Nicolas Cornet
Nicolas Cornet was a French Catholic theologian.-Life:He studied at the Jesuit college of Amiens, took the doctorate of theology at the University of Paris, 1626, and soon became president of the Collège de Navarre and syndic of the Sorbonne...
, frustrated by the continued circulation of the Augustinus, drew up a list of five propositions from Augustinus and two propositions from De la fréquente Communion and asked the Sorbonne faculty to condemn the propositions. Before the faculty could do so, the Parlement de Paris intervened, forbidding the Sorbonne faculty to consider the propositions. The Sorbonne faculty then determined to forward the propositions to the General Assembly of the 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...
, which met in 1650. In the assembly, 85 of the French bishops voted to refer the matter to 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...
. Eleven of the bishops opposed this move, and asked the pope to appoint a commission similar to 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...
to resolve the situation. Innocent X agreed to the majority's request, but in an attempt to accommodate the view of the minority, appointed an advisory committee consisting of five cardinals
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
and thirteen consultors to report on the situation. Over the next two years, this commission held 36 meetings, 10 of which Innocent X presided over in person.
The supporters of Jansenism on the commission drew up a table with three heads: the first listed the Calvinist position (which was condemned as heretical), the second listed the Pelagian/Semipelagian position (as taught by the Molinists), and the third listed the correct Augustinian
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
position (according to the Jansenists).
Jansenism's supporters suffered a decisive defeat when Innocent X issued the bull Cum occasione on May 31, 1653. The bull condemned the following five propositions:
- that there are some commands of God which just men cannot keep, no matter how hard they wish and strive;
- that it is impossible for fallen man to resist sovereign graceIrresistible graceIrresistible Grace is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing...
; - that it is possible for human beings who lack free willFree will"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
to meritMerit (Catholicism)Merit , in general, is understood to be that property of a good work which entitles the doer to receive a reward from him in whose service the work is done...
; - that the Semipelagians were correct to teach that prevenient gracePrevenient gracePrevenient grace is a Christian theological concept rooted in Augustinian theology. It is embraced primarily by Arminian Christians who are influenced by the theology of Jacob Arminius or John Wesley. Wesley typically referred to it in 18th century language as prevenient grace...
was necessary for all interior acts, including for faithFaithFaith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
, but were incorrect to teach that fallen man is free to accept or resist prevenient grace; and - that it is Semipelagian to say that Christ died for all.
Background: 1654–1664
Antoine Arnauld accepted the bull Cum Occasione and agreed in condemning the five propositions mentioned by Cum Occasione. However, he argued that Augustinus did not argue in favour of the five propositions condemned by Cum Occasione. Rather, he argued that Jansen intended his statements in Augustinus in the same sense that Augustine of Hippo had offered his opinions – and since the pope would certainly not have wished to condemn Augustine's opinions, the pope had not condemned Jansen's actual opinions.Replying to Arnauld, in 1654, 38 French bishops condemned Arnauld's position to the pope. Opponents of Jansenism in the church refused absolution
Absolution
Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This concept is found in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican churches, and most Lutheran churches....
to Roger du Plessis, duc de Liancourt for his continued protection of the Jansenists. In response to this onslaught, Arnauld articulated a distinction as to how far the Church could bind the mind of a Catholic. He argued that there is a distinction between de jure and de facto—that a Catholic was obliged to accept the Church's opinion as to a matter of law (i.e. as to a matter of doctrine) but not as to a matter of fact. Arnauld argued that, while he agreed with the doctrine propounded in Cum Occasione, he was not bound to accept the pope's determination of fact as to what doctrines were contained in Jansen's work.
In 1656, the theological faculty at the Sorbonne moved against Arnauld. This was the context in which 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...
wrote his famous Provincial Letters
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...
in defence of Arnauld's position in the dispute at the Sorbonne. (However, unlike Arnauld, Pascal did not himself accept Cum occasione and believed that the condemned doctrines were orthodox. Nevertheless, he emphasised Arnauld's distinction about matters of doctrine vs. matters of fact.) The letters were also scathing in their critique of the 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...
of the Jesuits, echoing Arnauld's Théologie morale des Jésuites.
However, Pascal was unable to convince the Sorbonne's theological faculty, and they voted 138–68 to expel Arnauld together with 60 other theologians from the Sorbonne. Later that year, the French Assembly of the Bishops voted to condemn Arnauld's distinction between the pope's ability to bind the mind of believers in matters of doctrine but not in matters of fact; they asked Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...
to condemn Arnauld's proposition as heresy. The pope responded with the bull Ad Sanctam Beati Petri Sedem (dated October 16, 1656) in which he stated "We declare and define that the five propositions have been drawn from the book of Jansenius entitled Augustinus, and that they have been condemned in the sense of the same Jansenius and we once more condemn them as such."
In 1657, relying on Ad Sanctam Beati Petri Sedem, the French Assembly of the Clergy drew up a formulation of faith condemning Jansenism and declared that subscription to the formula was obligatory. Many Jansenists remained firmly committed to Arnauld's formula; although they would accept the conclusions of Cum Occasione, they would not agree that the propositions were contained in Jansen's Augustinus. In retaliation, the Archbishop of Paris, Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz
Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz
Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz was a French churchman, writer of memoirs, and agitator in the Fronde....
suspended the convent of Port Royal from receiving the Sacraments. In 1660, the elementary schools run by Port-Royal-des-Champs were closed by bull, and in 1661, the monastery at Port-Royal-des-Champs was forbidden to accept new novices, which guaranteed the monastery would eventually die out.
Formulary: 1664
Four bishops (Henri ArnauldHenri Arnauld
Henri Arnauld was a French Catholic bishop.He was first destined for the Bar, but was taken to Rome by Cardinal Bentivoglio and during this absence, which lasted five years, the court granted him the Abbey of Saint-Nicholas...
, Bishop of Angers (brother of Antoine and Angélique Arnauld); Nicolas Choart de Buzenval, Bishop of Beauvais; François-Etienne Caulet
François-Etienne Caulet
François-Etienne Caulet was a French bishop and Jansenist.-Life:After completing his studies at the Collège de La Flèche he laboured for some time under Père de Condren, Superior of the French Oratory, and then joined Jean-Jacques Olier in founding the Vaugirard Seminary and the Company of...
, Bishop of Pamiers; and Nicolas Pavillon
Nicolas Pavillon
Nicolas Pavillon was a French bishop of Alet and Jansenist. His attitude against Pope Alexander VII won him the admiration of Port-Royal. Alet became the "Mecca" of the Jansenists...
, Bishop of Alet) sided with Port-Royal, arguing that the French Assembly of the Clergy could not command French Catholics to subscribe to something which was not required by the pope. At the urging of several bishops, and at the personal insistence of King Louis XIV, Pope Alexander VII sent to France the apostolic constitution
Apostolic constitution
An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the...
Regiminis Apostolici (dated February 15, 1664) which required all French Catholics to subscribe to the following formulary
Formulary (model documents)
Formularies are medieval collections of models for the execution of documents , public or private; a space being left for the insertion of names, dates, and circumstances peculiar to each case...
:
Formulary controversy: 1664–1669
This formulary formed the basis of the Formulary ControversyFormulary controversy
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.- Context :...
. Many Jansenists refused to sign the formulary; whilst some did sign, they made it known that they were agreeing only to the doctrine (questions de jure), not the allegations asserted by the bull (questions de facto, or of facts). The latter category included the four Jansenist-leaning bishops, who communicated the bull to their flocks along with messages which maintained the distinction between doctrine and fact. This angered both Louis XIV and Alexander VII, and the pope appointed a committee of nine French bishops to investigate the situation.
Pope Clement IX
Pope Clement IX , born Giulio Rospigliosi, was Pope from 1667 to 1669.-Early life:Born Giulio Rospigliosi to a noble family of Pistoia, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, he was a pupil of the Jesuits. After receiving his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Pisa, he taught theology there...
, initially appeared to be willing to continue the move against the Jansenist-leaning bishops. However, in France, the Jansenists conducted a campaign arguing that allowing a papal commission of this sort would be ceding the traditional liberties of the Gallican Church
Gallican Church
The Gallican Church was the Catholic Church in France from the time of the Declaration of the Clergy of France to that of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution....
, thus playing on traditional French opposition to ultramontanism
Ultramontanism
Ultramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Roman Catholic community that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope...
. They convinced one member of the cabinet (Lyonne) and nineteen bishops of their position. As a result, these bishops wrote to Clement IX, arguing that the infallibility of the Church
Infallibility of the Church
The Infallibility of the Church is the belief that the Holy Spirit will not allow the Church to err in its belief or teaching under certain circumstances...
applied only to matters of revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
, and not to matters of fact. They asserted that this was the position of Caesar Baronius
Caesar Baronius
Cesare Baronio was an Italian Cardinal and ecclesiastical historian...
and Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
. They also sent a letter to Louis XIV, arguing that great severity would result in political discord.
Under these circumstances, the papal nuncio to France recommended that Clement IX seek a peaceful accommodation with the Jansenists. Clement agreed, and appointed César d'Estrées
César d'Estrées
César d'Estrées was a French diplomat and Cardinal.He was the son of Marshal François Annibal d'Estrées, and brother of Marshal Jean II d'Estrées....
, Bishop of Laon as mediator in the matter (he was to be assisted by two bishops who had signed the letter to the pope, Louis-Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Archbishop of Sens and Félix Vialart de Herse, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne). D'Estrées convinced the four bishops to sign the formulary (though it seems they may have believed that signing the formulary did not mean assent to the matters of fact it contained). The pope, initially happy that the four bishops had signed, became angry when he was informed that they had done so with reservations. Clement IX ordered his nuncio to conduct a new investigation' reporting back, the nuncio declared: "they have condemned and caused to be condemned the five propositions with all manner of sincerity, without any exception or restriction whatever, in every sense in which the Church has condemned them". However, he reported that the four bishops continued to be evasive as to whether they agreed with the pope as to the matter of fact. In response, Clement appointed a commission of twelve cardinals to further investigate the matter. This commission determined that the four bishops had signed the formulary in a less than entirely sincere manner, but nevertheless recommended that the matter should be dropped in order to forestall further divisions in the Church. The pope agreed and thus issued four briefs, declaring the four bishops' agreement to the formulary was acceptable, thus instituting the "Peace of Clement IX" (1669–1701).
Case of Conscience and aftermath: 1701–1709
Although the Peace of Clement IX brought about a lull in the public theological controversy, a number of churchmen remained attracted to Jansenism. Three major groups may be identified:- the duped Jansenists, who continued to profess the five propositions condemned in Cum Occasione
- the fins Jansénistes, who accepted the doctrine of Cum Occasione but who continued to deny the infallibility of the Church in matters of fact
- the quasi-Jansenists, who formally accepted both Cum occasione and the infallibility of the Church in matters of fact, but who nevertheless remained attracted to aspects of Jansenism, notably its stern morality, commitment to virtue, and its opposition to ultramontanismUltramontanismUltramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Roman Catholic community that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope...
which was a hot political issue in France in the decades surrounding the 1682 Declaration of the Clergy of FranceDeclaration of the Clergy of FranceUnder the Declaration of the Clergy of France of 1682, the following privileges were claimed by France in relation to the Holy See. They are the framework of Gallicanism, and have never been accepted by the Pope....
.
The quasi-Jansenists served as protectors of the "duped Jansenists" and the fins Jansénistes.
The tensions generated by the continuing presence of these elements in the French church came to a head in the Case of Conscience of 1701. The case involved the question of whether or not absolution
Absolution
Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This concept is found in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican churches, and most Lutheran churches....
should be given to a cleric who refused to affirm the infallibility of the Church in matters of fact (even though he did not preach against it but merely maintained a "respectful silence"). A provincial conference, consisting of forty theology professors from the Sorbonne, headed by Noël Alexandre
Noel Alexandre
Noël Alexandre, or Natalis Alexander was a French theologian and ecclesiastical historian.-Biography:In 1654, Alexandre joined the Dominicans in his hometown...
, declared that the cleric should receive absolution.
The publication of this "Case of Conscience" provoked outrage amongst the anti-Jansenist elements in the Catholic Church. The decision was condemned by several French bishops; by Louis-Antoine de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris; by the theological faculties at Leuven, Douai
University of Douai
The University of Douai is a former university in Douai, France. With a Middle Ages heritage of scholar activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started in 1562. It closed from 1795 to 1808...
, and eventually Paris; and, finally, in 1703, by Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death in 1721.-Early life:...
. The Sorbonne professors who had signed the Case of Conscience now backed away, and all of the signatories withdrew their signatures and the theologian who had championed the result of the Case of Conscience, Nicolas Petitpied, was expelled from the Sorbonne.
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
, now asked the pope to issue a papal bull condemning the practice of maintaining a respectful silence as to the issue of the infallibility of the Church in matters of dogmatic fact.
The pope obliged, issuing the bull Vineam Domini Sabaoth, dated July 16, 1705. At the subsequent 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...
, all those present (except P.-Jean-Fr. de Percin de Montgaillard, Bishop of Saint-Pons) voted to accept the bull and Louis XIV promulgated the bull as binding law in France.
Louis also sought the dissolution of Port-Royal-des-Champs, the stronghold of Jansenist thought, and this was achieved in 1708, when the pope issued a bull dissolving Port-Royal-des-Champs. The remaining nuns were forcibly removed in 1709 and dispersed among various other French convents and the buildings were razed in 1709. The Convent of Port-Royal in Paris remained in existence until the time of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, when it was closed by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government....
, part of the general Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution
Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution
The dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution is a conventional description of the results of a number of separate policies, conducted by various governments of France between the start of the French Revolution in 1789 and the Concordat of 1801, forming the basis of the later and...
.
Case of Quesnel
Pasquier Quesnel
Pasquier 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...
had been a member of the Parisian Oratory
Oratory of Saint Philip Neri
The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a congregation of Catholic priests and lay-brothers who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity. They are commonly referred to as Oratorians...
from 1657 to 1681, at which time he was expelled because of his Jansenism. He sought the protection of Pierre-Armand du Camboust de Coislin, Bishop of Orléans, who harboured Quesnel for four years, at which point Quesnel joined Antoine Arnauld in 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...
. In 1692, Quesnel published a book which he had been working on since 1668, Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament (Moral Reflections on the New Testament), a devotional guide to the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
which laid out the Jansenist position in strong terms. Following Arnauld's death in 1694, Quesnel was widely regarded as the leader of the Jansenists. In 1703, Quesnel was imprisoned by Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano
Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano
Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano was Archbishop of Mechelen in Belgium. He was appointed Archbishop on 12 July 1689. He had previously been the chief councillor for the Netherlands and Burgundy for the Habsburg monarchy.-References:...
, Archbishop of Mechelen, but escaped several months later and lived in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
for the remainder of his life.
The Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament did not initially arouse controversy; in fact, it was approved for publication by Felix Vialart, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne and recommended by Louis-Antoine de Noailles. Neither Vialart nor Noailles appears to have realised that the book had strongly Jansenist overtones, and had thought that they were simply approving a pious manual of devotion. However, in the years that followed, several bishops became aware of the book's Jansenist tendencies and issued condemnations: Ignace de Foresta, Bishop of Apt in 1703; Charles-Béningne Hervé, the Bishop of Gap in 1704; and in 1707 both the Bishop of Besançon and Edouard Bargedé, Bishop of Nevers. When the Holy Office
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
drew the Réflexions morales to the attention of Clement XI, he issued the papal brief
Papal brief
The Papal Brief is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a Papal Bull.-History:The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugenius IV , was clearly prompted for the same desire for greater simplicity...
Universi dominici (1708), proscribing the book for "savouring of the Jansenist heresy."; as a result, in 1710, the Bishop of Luçon and the Bishop of La Rochelle forbade the reading of the book.
However, Louis-Antoine de Noailles, who was now the cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Archbishop of Paris was embarrassed and reluctant to condemn a book he had previously recommended, and thus hesitated. As a result, Louis XIV asked the pope to settle the matter. The result was the bull Unigenitus
Unigenitus
Unigenitus , 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...
, dated September 8, 1713 which collected 101 propositions from the Réflexions morales and condemned them, "especially those contained in the famous propositions of Jansenius".
Upon examining the 101 propositions condemned by Unigenitus, Noailles determined that as set out in the bull and apart from their context in the Réflexions morales, some of the propositions condemned by Unigenitus were in fact orthodox. He therefore refused to accept the bull and instead sought clarifications from the pope.
In the midst of this dispute, Louis XIV died in 1715, and the government of France was taken over by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
, serving as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
for the 5-year-old Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
. Unlike Louis XIV, who had stood solidly behind Unigenitus, Orléans expressed ambivalence. With the change in political mood, three theological faculties which had previously voted to accept Unigenitus – Paris, Nantes
University of Nantes
The University of Nantes is a well-known French university, located in the city of Nantes. Currently, it is attended by approximately 34,000 students. 10% of them are international students coming from 110 countries.-History:...
, and Reims
University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne
University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne is a French university, in the Academy of Reims. It was established in 1960 and includes the much older Rheims Faculty of Law, a law school....
– voted to rescind their acceptance.
In 1717, four French bishops went even further, and attempted to appeal the papal bull to a general council
Ecumenical council
An ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
; the bishops were joined by hundreds of French priests, monks and nuns, and were supported by the parlements. In 1718, Clement XI responded vigorously to this challenge to his authority by issuing the bull Pastoralis officii by which he excommunicated everyone who had called for an appeal to a general council. Far from disarming the French clergy, many of whom were now advocating conciliarism
Conciliarism
Conciliarism, or the conciliar movement, was a reform movement in the 14th, 15th and 16th century Roman Catholic Church which held that final authority in spiritual matters resided with the Roman Church as a corporation of Christians, embodied by a general church council, not with the pope...
, the clergy who had appealed Unigenitus to a general council, now appealed Pastoralis officii to a general council as well. In total, one cardinal, 18 bishops, and 3,000 clergy of Frances supported an appeal to a general council. However, the majority in France (four cardinals, 100 bishops, 100,000 clergymen) stood by the pope. The schism carried on for some time, however, and it was not until 1728 that Noailles submitted to the pope.
The convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard
Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard
Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard is a term used to describe a group of 18th-century French religious pilgrims who exhibited convulsions and later constituted a religious sect and a political movement. This practice originated at the tomb of François de Pâris, a Jansenist deacon who was buried at...
, religious pilgrims who experienced convulsions at the tomb of a Jansenist deacon who was buried at the cemetery of the parish of Saint-Médard in Paris, were associated with the continued Jansenist opposition to Unigenitus in the early years of the reign of Louis XV. The connection between the larger French Jansenist movement and the smaller, more radical convulsionnaire phenomenon is difficult to state with precision. As historian Brian E. Strayer has noted, almost all of the convulsionnaires were Jansenists, but very few Jansenists embraced the convulsionnaire phenomenon.
Legacy
Unigenitus marks the official break of toleration of Jansenism within the Church in France, though quasi-Jansenists would occasionally stir in the following decades. By the mid-18th century, Jansenism proper had totally lost its battle to be a viable theological position within Catholicism. However, certain ideas tinged with Jansenism remained in circulation for much longer; in particular, the Jansenist idea that Holy Communion should be received very infrequently and that reception required much more than freedom from mortal sin remained influential until finally condemned by Pope St. Pius X, who endorsed frequent communion, as long as the communicant was free of mortal sin, in the early 20th century.On the other hand, Pascal's denunciation of Jesuit casuistry and its "relaxed morality" also led Innocent XI to condemn (in 1679) sixty-five propositions which were taken chiefly from the writings of the Jesuits Escobar
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza was a Spanish churchman of illustrious descent.Born in Valladolid, he was educated by the Jesuits, and at the age of fifteen took the habit of that order. He soon became a famous preacher. In addition he was a voluminous writer, and his collected works fill eighty-three...
and Suarez
Francisco Suárez
Francisco Suárez was a Spanish Jesuit priest, philosopher and theologian, one of the leading figures of the School of Salamanca movement, and generally regarded among the greatest scholastics after Thomas Aquinas....
. They were said to be propositiones laxorum moralistarum, and Innocent forbade anyone to teach them under penalty of excommunication.
Several Jansenist teachers also proposed a radical reform of the Latin liturgy.
Jansenism was also a factor in the formation of the independent Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands
Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands
The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands; , is the mother church related to the Old Catholic Churches. It is sometimes called Ancient Catholic Church, Church of Utrecht or Dutch Roman Catholic Church of the Old Episcopal Order...
from 1702 to 1723, and is said to continue to live on in some Ultrajectine
Ultrajectine
Ultrajectine defines the tradition of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands headquartered at the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. It is used to describe the anti-Papal-Primacy and Jansenist tendency of that independent church and its sister churches, which were founded in later centuries ....
traditions.
In the Canadian province of Quebec, the widespread rejection of the Catholic Church and secularization of its institutions in the mid 1960s, was justified frequently by charges that the church in Quebec was "Jansenist."
See also
- Antoine Le MaistreAntoine Le MaistreAntoine Le Maistre was a French Jansenist lawyer, author and translator. His name has also been written Lemaistre and Le Maître, and he sometimes used the pseudonym of Lamy.-Background and early life:...
- BaianismBaianismBaianism 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...
- Convulsionnaires of Saint-MédardConvulsionnaires of Saint-MédardConvulsionnaires of Saint-Médard is a term used to describe a group of 18th-century French religious pilgrims who exhibited convulsions and later constituted a religious sect and a political movement. This practice originated at the tomb of François de Pâris, a Jansenist deacon who was buried at...
- Formulary controversyFormulary controversyThe 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.- Context :...
- 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...
- Dale K. Van KleyDale K. Van KleyDale K. Van Kley is an American historian and professor of History at The Ohio State University.Van Kley is the author of numerous books and articles and has taught and conducted research throughout North America and Europe...
Reviews
- Monique Cottret, "Aux origines du républicanisme janséniste: le mythe de l'Eglise primitive et le primitivisme des Lumières", R.H.M.C. Paris, 1983, pp. 99–115.
- Monique Cottret,"Voltaire au risque du jansénisme. Le Siècle de Louis XIV à l'épreuve du jansénisme", Voltaire et le Grand Siècle, sous la direction de Jean Dagen et Anna-Sophie Barrovecchio, Voltaire Foundation, Oxford, 2006, pp. 387–397.
- Jean-Louis Quantin, « Augustinisme, sexualité et direction de conscience : Port-Royal devant les tentations du duc de Luynes » in Revue d’histoire des religions, 2e trimestre 2003
- Catherine Maire, "Les jansénistes et le millénarismeMillennialismMillennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
. Du refus à la conversion", Revue Annales. Histoire, Sciences sociales, n°1–2008 (published by the EHESS, ISBN978-2-7132-2177-4)
External links
- Augustinus by Cornelius Jansen (1640) (in Latin)
- Provincial Letters by Blaise Pascal (1656)
- Moral Reflections on the Gospels by Quesnel (the first volume of the Reflexions morales – only the reflections on Matthew are available here)
- Société des amis de Port-Royal
- Jansenism Resources: Primary texts and discussions relating to the theology and history of Jansenism: context of Augustine of Hippo, Jesuit Order, liturgy, universalism and Second Vatican CouncilSecond Vatican CouncilThe Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
This site is maintained by a very conservative movement that challenges much of what the modern Roman Catholic church teaches and appears to be sympathetic to some Jansenist ideas. A good way to understand Jansenism's continuing impact on religious thought. - http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/jansenis.htm
- http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0858980.html