Louis-Édouard-François-Desiré Pie
Encyclopedia
Louis-Édouard-François-Desiré Pie (26 September 1815 – 18 May 1880), also referred to as Cardinal Pie, was a French Catholic bishop of Poitiers and cardinal
, known for his ultramontanism
and defence of the social reign of Christ the King
.
in the diocese of Chartres
on 26 September 1815, just after the Napoleonic Wars
, between the Battle of Waterloo
(18 June 1815) and the Treaty of Paris
(20 November 1815). In 1835, Pie entered the seminary of St. Sulpice, where he remained for four years. He then continued his theological studies in Paris. While developing a reputation for arguing the ultramontane cause against Gallican professors, the young priest developed a friendship with Abbé Lecomte, pastor of the Cathedral of Chartres
. Abbé Lecomte, who had repeatedly refused episcopal appointment, was an ultramontane defender of papal infallibility
, and a great admirer of the thought of Joseph de Maistre
. Increasingly taking on the role of protector and spiritual father to Pie, Lecomte's death – which occurred on 31 December 1850 – was a very painful episode for Pie, who had risen at his relatively young age to occupancy of the see of Poitiers. He wrote the same day the brother of his deceased friend, Gabriel Lecomte: "I have no words, sir, and worthy friend, to express my excessive pain (...) I loved as a father, as a brother, as a unique friend, he for whom death came knocking. I can not stop the course of my tears, and yet still they are insufficient to unload my heart." Another man who played a leading role in the life of Abbé Pie was his bishop, who knew him as a seminarian and later as a young priest and vicar of Chartres. Bishop Clausel Montale was the chaplain of Madame la Dauphine, Duchesse d'Angoulême, before being named bishop of Chartres.
Pie received the four minor orders
in 1837 and was ordained deacon
9 June 1838.
The "liberal king" (Louis Philippe
) had been in power for almost nine years when the anti-liberal Father Pie began his pastoral ministry at Chartres. In his second year of priesthood, Pie was charged with the responsibility of giving the bishop's sermons in Lent, arguing the superiority of Christianity and the Christian life over liberal alternatives. In 1843, on 4 January, Bishop Montale appointed Father Pie his Vicar General
. Thus he preached the Novena
of the Assumption
of 1846, taking as the theme of his sermons man's duty to return to God. These sermons violently attacked the French Revolution
, during which had been established a conception of society based on human – and not divine – sovereignty. On 12 July of the same year, Father Pie wrote to M. de Estoile: "The neo-liberal Catholic party is a child of the Revolution and the Revolution is satanic in its essence."
Pope Pius IX
appointed Pie to the episcopate on 28 September 1849, and he was consecrated on 25 November by Claude-Hippolyte Clausel Montale. He wrote after his appointment: "Everything has to be redone to create a Christian people: this will not happen by miracle or by a series of miracles especially, it will be through the priestly ministry, or it will not happen at all, and then society will perish." On 25 November, the day the Church celebrates Saint Catherine of Alexandria, patroness of philosophers and doctors, Archbishop Pie gave his first pastoral letter in Poitiers, on the same subject as so many of his most noted sermons: the return to, and restoration of all things in, Jesus Christ. As he would later write, "We will not change the essence of things; Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the whole social order. Without him, everything collapses, everything becomes divided and perishes." (Cardinal Pie, Works, vol. II, p. 335)
. He was created cardinal by Pope Leo XIII
in the consistory of 12 May 1879 with the title of Cardinal Priest of St. Mary of Victories. He chose as his groomsmen to accompany him to Rome at the presentation of his cardinal's hat Charles Veillard, Charles Clémot, Gonzague de la Rochebrochard and Henry Savatier. He died a year later in his seventy-fifth year, on 18 May 1880 at Angoulême, where he had come to preach. He was buried in the crypt of Notre-Dame la Grande de Poitiers.
Rome had wanted, in making Pie a cardinal, to thank him for his work in France and at Vatican I. He would, years after his death, be favourably cited by Pope Pius X
, who knews his writings well. His "Works" (pastoral letters, sermons, homilies, speeches, etc.) fill twelve volumes, and his social teaching has in recent years been enthusiastically promoted by members of the Society of St Pius X.
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...
, known for his ultramontanism
Ultramontanism
Ultramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Roman Catholic community that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope...
and defence of the social reign of Christ the King
Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians. The Roman Catholic Church, together with many Protestant denominations, including the Anglican Churches, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the...
.
Early life and seminary
Pie was born in PontgouinPontgouin
Pontgouin is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the diocese of Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
on 26 September 1815, just after the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, between the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
(18 June 1815) and the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris could refer to a number of treaties which have been negotiated and signed in Paris, France, including:*Treaty of Paris , ended the Albigensian Crusade*Treaty of Paris , between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France...
(20 November 1815). In 1835, Pie entered the seminary of St. Sulpice, where he remained for four years. He then continued his theological studies in Paris. While developing a reputation for arguing the ultramontane cause against Gallican professors, the young priest developed a friendship with Abbé Lecomte, pastor of the Cathedral of Chartres
Cathedral of Chartres
The French medieval Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres is a Latin Rite Catholic cathedral located in Chartres, about southwest of Paris, is considered one of the finest examples of the French High Gothic style...
. Abbé Lecomte, who had repeatedly refused episcopal appointment, was an ultramontane defender of papal infallibility
Papal infallibility
Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, by action of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is preserved from even the possibility of error when in his official capacity he solemnly declares or promulgates to the universal Church a dogmatic teaching on faith or morals...
, and a great admirer of the thought of Joseph de Maistre
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre was a French-speaking Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat. He defended hierarchical societies and a monarchical State in the period immediately following the French Revolution...
. Increasingly taking on the role of protector and spiritual father to Pie, Lecomte's death – which occurred on 31 December 1850 – was a very painful episode for Pie, who had risen at his relatively young age to occupancy of the see of Poitiers. He wrote the same day the brother of his deceased friend, Gabriel Lecomte: "I have no words, sir, and worthy friend, to express my excessive pain (...) I loved as a father, as a brother, as a unique friend, he for whom death came knocking. I can not stop the course of my tears, and yet still they are insufficient to unload my heart." Another man who played a leading role in the life of Abbé Pie was his bishop, who knew him as a seminarian and later as a young priest and vicar of Chartres. Bishop Clausel Montale was the chaplain of Madame la Dauphine, Duchesse d'Angoulême, before being named bishop of Chartres.
Pie received the four minor orders
Minor orders
The minor orders are the lowest ranks in the Christian clergy. The most recognized minor orders are porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte. In the Latin rite Catholic Church, the minor orders were in most cases replaced by "instituted" ministries of lector and acolyte, though communities that use...
in 1837 and was ordained deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
9 June 1838.
Priest and bishop
The following year, 25 May 1839, Pie was ordained priest.The "liberal king" (Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe may refer to:*Louis-Philippe I, King of the French, last King of France*Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, called King Louis Philippe II by some factions*Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans*Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans...
) had been in power for almost nine years when the anti-liberal Father Pie began his pastoral ministry at Chartres. In his second year of priesthood, Pie was charged with the responsibility of giving the bishop's sermons in Lent, arguing the superiority of Christianity and the Christian life over liberal alternatives. In 1843, on 4 January, Bishop Montale appointed Father Pie his Vicar General
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
. Thus he preached the Novena
Novena
In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. The prayers may come from prayer books, or consist of the recitation of the Rosary , or of short prayers through the day...
of the Assumption
Assumption
In logic an assumption is a proposition that is taken for granted, as if it were true based upon presupposition without preponderance of the facts...
of 1846, taking as the theme of his sermons man's duty to return to God. These sermons violently attacked 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...
, during which had been established a conception of society based on human – and not divine – sovereignty. On 12 July of the same year, Father Pie wrote to M. de Estoile: "The neo-liberal Catholic party is a child of the Revolution and the Revolution is satanic in its essence."
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
appointed Pie to the episcopate on 28 September 1849, and he was consecrated on 25 November by Claude-Hippolyte Clausel Montale. He wrote after his appointment: "Everything has to be redone to create a Christian people: this will not happen by miracle or by a series of miracles especially, it will be through the priestly ministry, or it will not happen at all, and then society will perish." On 25 November, the day the Church celebrates Saint Catherine of Alexandria, patroness of philosophers and doctors, Archbishop Pie gave his first pastoral letter in Poitiers, on the same subject as so many of his most noted sermons: the return to, and restoration of all things in, Jesus Christ. As he would later write, "We will not change the essence of things; Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the whole social order. Without him, everything collapses, everything becomes divided and perishes." (Cardinal Pie, Works, vol. II, p. 335)
Cardinal and legacy
On 29 January 1879, Cardinal Nina, the Vatican Secretary of State, officially notified Pie of his elevation to the dignity of cardinalCardinal (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...
. He was created cardinal by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
in the consistory of 12 May 1879 with the title of Cardinal Priest of St. Mary of Victories. He chose as his groomsmen to accompany him to Rome at the presentation of his cardinal's hat Charles Veillard, Charles Clémot, Gonzague de la Rochebrochard and Henry Savatier. He died a year later in his seventy-fifth year, on 18 May 1880 at Angoulême, where he had come to preach. He was buried in the crypt of Notre-Dame la Grande de Poitiers.
Rome had wanted, in making Pie a cardinal, to thank him for his work in France and at Vatican I. He would, years after his death, be favourably cited by Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
, who knews his writings well. His "Works" (pastoral letters, sermons, homilies, speeches, etc.) fill twelve volumes, and his social teaching has in recent years been enthusiastically promoted by members of the Society of St Pius X.
Quotations
Jesus Christ has been constituted the King of kings. Yes, and the true glory, the true nobility of kings, ever since the preaching of the Gospel, is to be the lieutenants of Jesus Christ on earth. Would per chance the kings have been less great since the cross glitters on top of their diadems? Would the throne have been less famous, less secure since kingship is an emanation, a participation of the kingship of Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ has been constituted king, and the true dignity, the true liberty, the true emancipation of modern nations is to have the right to be governed in a Christian manner. Would per chance the nations have been falling from their glory? Would their fate have been less noble, less happy since the scepters to which they obey are bound to submit to the scepter of Jesus? Let us repeat it, my brethren: Christianity does not reach its full development, its full maturity, where it does not take on a social character. Such is what Bossuet expressed in this way : 'Christ does not reign if his Church is not mistress, if the peoples cease to pay to Jesus Christ, to his doctrine, to his law, a national homage.' When the Christianity of a country is reduced to the bare proportions of the domestic life, when Christianity is no longer the soul of public life, of public power, of public institutions, then Jesus Christ deals with this country in the manner he is there dealt with. He continues to give his grace and his blessings to the individuals who serve him, but he abandons the institutions, the powers which do not serve him; and the institutions, the kings, the nations become like shifting sand in the desert, they fall away like the autumn leaves which are gone with the wind. (Cardinal Pie, Works, vol. II, pp. 259–60)
The main error, the capital crime of this century is the pretension of withdrawing public society from the government and the law of God... The principle laid at the basis of the whole modern social structure is atheism of the law and of the institutions. Let it be disguised under the names of abstention, neutrality, incompetence or even equal protection, let us even go to the length of denying it by some legislative dispositions for details or by accidental and secondary acts: the principle of the emancipation of the human society from the religious order remains at the bottom of things; it is the essence of what is called the new era. (Cardinal Pie, Pastoral Works, vol. VII, pp. 3, 100)
The time has not come for Jesus Christ to reign? Well, then the time has not come for governments to last. (Cardinal Pie, meeting with Emperor Napoleon III)