A Brief ACCOUNT Of the PROCEEDINGS OF THE French Clergy, In taking away the POPE's Usurp'd SUPREMACY, Shewing by what Steps or Degrees the same was Effected.
By way of Introduction to the Pope's Letter, written to the Clergy of France 11th of Apr. 1682. and their Protestarion thereupon, 6th of May following; the Letter Condemning, and the Protestation Justifying and Ratifying the said Proceedings.
Both which are here Published in Latine, to gratifie the Curiosity of Scholars, and in English for the Satisfaction of other Readers.
LONDON, Printed for Tho. Simmons, at the Prince's Amrs in Ludgate Street. 1682.
A Brief Account of the Proceedings of the French Clergy, in taking away the Pope's Supremacy, &c. By way of Introduction to the following Letter, and Protestation.
FOR the better understanding of some Passages in the Letter, and Protestation, it will be necessary to acquaint you with the Original and Progress of that contest, which has so long continued between the Pope, and the French King, and Clergy, of which if you desire to be inform'd fully, and at large, I must Refer you to a Book, Published last Year, Entitled. The verbal Process, or Proceedings of the Extraordinary Assembly of the Arch-Bishops and Bishops held at Paris in March 1680/1, and May 1681, Translated out of the Original French Papers. The substance of which take as follows.
The late Pope's having denied the King's Right, called in French Regale, and in Latine Regalia, (which consists in his receiving the Profits of vacant Bishopricks in France, and in the Collation of Dignities, and Prehends, during a vocancy) and Claiming the same as their Right, especially in four Provinces of that Kingdom; the present French King in the Year 1673, caused a Declaration to be Publish'd, and another in 1675, in which he asserts his Right of Regalia, as well in the four Provinces, as in all other parts of France, and Commands his Officers, appointed to Collect the Profits of vacant Benefices, [Page 4]to execute their Office in all Places, without distinction, as Occasions should offer, which was done accordingly, and the Declarations were obeyed by all the Prelats, except the Bishop of Pomiez, who continued a Zealous Stickler for the Pope, agaist, the King in this Point, to the time of his Death.
This difference between the Pope, and the King, and Clergy (who opposed the Pope, as well upon their own Account, as the King's, as well shall see anon) still increasing, at last the Clergy, by their Agents General, begg'd leave of the King in 1680/1. That such Prelats as were then at Paris, about the affairs of their Dioceses, might meet and consult, for the puting a speedy stop to some sinister practises of the Court of Rome, repugnant to the tenour of the Canons, the Liberties of the Gallican Church, and the Laws of the Kingdom; which Request being granted, an Assembly consisting of six Arch-Bishops, and 35. Bishops was held at Paris in the months of March 1680/1. and May. 1681.
To this Assembly the said Agents of the Clergy presented a Memorial in which they Complain that divers Letters (or Briefs) had been dispers'd, in the name of Pope Innocent XI. containing many things very Prejudicial to the Regalia, and to the Gallican Church, viz. The Letter of the 18th of October 1680, which comdemns to the flames, the Sentence of the Parliament of Paris, past the 24th of September 1680, wherein are explained the Laws of the Kingdom, in defence of the Authority of the Bishops.
The Letters to the King, to hinder the Execution of the 2, last declarations, about the Regalia.
Also several other Letters, about the business of Pomiez, either to the late Bishop of Pomiez, or to the Arch-Bishop of Tholouse, but especially the 2. last, one of which dated the 23. of September, confirms the Election of the Grand Vicars, chosen by the Chapter, in the vacancy of that See, likewise an Injunction to acknowledge them, upon pain of incurring the Severest penalties of the Church. The other, deliver'd the first of January, Excommunicates the Arch-Bishop of Tholouse, without using any of the forms observ'd in France; which was Injurious to the Episcopal Dignity, and equally mischievous both to Church and State.
The letter about the business of Charonne, &c. That the design of these Letters was to beget a misunderstanding, and to create a difference between the Pope, and the King, to ruine the Canons, receiv'd, and observ'd in that Kingdome, to engage the Pope, upon bare Informations, without any Appeal, and omisso medio, to Judge, and in his Tribunal at Rome (of his own meer motion, and by the sole motive of the plenitude of his power) to confirm several Elections, which were nul, and void; thereby depriving the Bishops of their ordinary Authority, Archbishops, and Primates of their Jurisdiction, and Interrupting the Order of Ecclesiastical Proceedings.
This Memorial having been read, the Assembly desired the Arch Bishop of Paris, their President, to name six Commissioners, who, together with himself, might consider what was to be done in these affaires, and to make their Report to the Assembly which, after Consultation, was made accordingly [Page 6]by the Arch-Bishop of Reims, one of the Commissioners, in a long and elegant Speech, the effect of which was as follows, viz.
That the Right of the Regalia, which had caused the aforesaid Letters, had been, a very long time, possess'd by their Kings; Alexander the 3d. Innocent the 3d. Clement the 4th. Gregory the 10th. The second Council of Lyon, and Gregory the 11th. Yea their own Council of Bourges, had acknowledg'd and approv'd it. That no Assembly of the French Clergy ever pretended, that businesses, relating to the Regalia, ought to be brought before an Ecclesiastical Tribunal, but to be Debated, and decided by the Jurisdiction of the King's Council only. For confirmation of this, he said that Philip of Valois, by his Order of October 1334. decided all differences of this Nature, which happen'd in his Reign. That Lewis 11. by his declaration of the 24th. of May 1463, prohibits all his Subjects to have any Process, concerning the Regalia, before an Ecclesiastical Judge (no, not in the Court of Rome it self) and yet that it did not Appear that either John, 22. or Pious, 2. complain'd of it, That the Province of Britany, which was not reunited to the Crown of France till the Year 1532, was Subjected to the Regalia, by a Degree of Parliament, in 1598, in the Popedom of Clement, 8. who complain'd not of it, no, not to the Cardinal of Ossat, who, then attending the Pope, confesseth that the King might Extend the Regalia upon all the Bishopricks of his Kingdom, That the Principles of the Pope, and of the King [...]cers about the Regalia, were very different (viz.) The Pope believes that [Page 7]the Regalia is a Right derived from the Church; the King looks on it as a Regal, Temporal, and Inseperable Right of the Crown. The Pope relyes on the 2d. Council of Lyon, as a sacred boundary, beyond which we may not pass, but the King (who, not without Reason, Pretends that he is not Subject to a Council for a Right meerly Temporal) doth not own that Authority of the Council, alleaged against him, but on the contrary His Magisty maintains that his Predecessors could not prejudice his Rights; and that if they had reason to suspend the Execution of the Regalia in the four Provinces, he had much more reason to revive it there; that the Bishops had acknowledged him for their Judge, and that having pronounc'd Judgment, he is oblig'd to give an account of it to God only.
Then the Bishop of Troyes (another of the Commissioners.) commended to their Favour, and Protection, a certain Doctor of the Sorbonne, for a Book written by him, wherein (said he) ‘he justifies the Right, which we have to decide matters of Faith, and Discipline, and to oppose the Authority, which we have immediately received from Jesus Christ, against the novelties, which might arise in our Dioceses, and Provinces. Secondly he demonstrator that the Gallican Church is not departed from the Discipline of the Council of Sardica, the Execution of which the Councils, and Ancient Popes have so often recommended, and according to which, the Bishops ought to be tryed first by their Brethren in their Provinces. And these two Maxims are Canonical, and conformable to the Spirit of the Church, and to the Sacred Rules, Establish'd by ancient Councils and Authorized by the Holy See.’
When he had ended, the Arch-Bishop of Reims continued his Speech, and said that the Commissioners had examin'd the Pope's Letters, and first, that the occasion of those two, written to the Nuns of Charonne was thus. Their Monstery was founded 1643. By the Duchess of Orleans, who desired the Pope that the first Abbess might be continued daring life, and it was granted. After her decease the King nominates one to succeed her, but she dying before she was confirm'd, he nominates another, who was Established Abbess by the Arch-Bishop of Paris in 1679. That the first Letter of 7th of August 1680. forbids the Nuns to obey this Abbess, and commands them to choose another, which they did, without observing the Rules of Elections; which as soon as the Pope was informed of, he wrote another Letter to them, dated 15th October following, by which the defect of Formalities is supplyed, and this irregular Election of the new Abbess confirmed. That the several Letters, which the Pope had written to the Arch-Bishop of Tholouse, to the, since deceased, Bishop of Pomiez, and to the Chapter of that Church, since its vacancy, having been caused by the dispute about the Regalia, are to be taken as one ahd the same, and that the Dispute happen'd as follows, viz. The said Bishop refusing to submit to the Declarations of 1673, and 1675. form'd several Processes against such Clergymen, who, by vertue of the Regalia, possess'd some of the Prebends of his Church, which the Archbishop of Tholouse, upon the Appeals brought before him, made void. That on 7th August last, the Bishop dyed, and the old Canons Regular of his Church [Page 9]Elected, after his decease, some Officers to govern it. That these new Officers continued the Process against the Regalists, which the Bishop had begun, and the Archbishop of Tholouse made them void; complaint whereof being made to the Pope, he wrote two Letters, one to the Archbishop, and the other to the Chapter of Pamiez, which are of no moment. But by a Letter of 2d. October following, to the Chapter and Conons Regular of Pamiez, the Pope confirms the Officers, nominated by the Chapter, and engageth to confirm such as shall be chosen; he forbids them to own any others; he declares null whatever shall be done by Vicars General, which shall not be chosen by the old Canons, and orders this Letter to be read in the Diocess of Pomiez. That a Letter of Newyears-day last confirms, a second time the Officers, Elected by the Chapter, and declares that the Pope will confirm such as this Chapter shall Elect; that it Excommunicates with the greater Excommunication (which is immediately incurr'd, without any other Declaration) all such as shall favour the Grand Vicars, chosen by the Archbishop, and the Canons, that are Regalists, or shall favour the said Metropolitan; and in fine, that it Excommunicates the Metropolitan himself. In the next place he tells them that the first Parliament of the Kingdome having pass'd a Decree 24th Sept. against the Pope's Letter of 7 Aug. to the Nuns of Charonne, the Commissioners were of opinion, that it was their Interest to joyn with the Parliament therein; tho the said Decree was Condemned by a Letter of 18th December following, which forbids the reading of it, [Page 10]upon pain of Excommunication, and Commands the Bishops, or Inquisitors to burn all the Copies of it that can be found, &c.
Then he mentions the reflections of the Commissioners upon these matters; some of which are that by the Pope's two Letters to the Nuns of Charonne, granted upon their bare Relation, and in their own Cause, all is vacated that their Archbishop had done, without hearing, or so much as summoning him. That by reason of a Clause Inserted in the second Letter, viz. ‘that the Pope hath power to supply all formes, that may be omitted, even such as are Essential;’ it is pretended that he can supply the want of that very knowledg of a matter, which, by the Law of Nature, is absolutely necessary, before a judgment can be given of it. That the Proceedings against the Archbishop of Tholouse, were contrary to Equity, and the Rules of their Profession, and also to the Treaty, call'd the Concordat, which was made between Leo 10. and the Holy See, on the one part, and Francis 1. and his Kingdome, on the other part, and being Authoris'd by both Parties, is become a Law both in Church and State, and consequently cannot in the least be debilitated by any pretended Power from the Pope. And having proved these things excellently, and at large, he proeeeds to acquaint the Assembly with the Resolutions which their Commissioners had judg'd fit to be taken in that conjuncture, viz. That a Letter be written to the Pope to represent to him that the business of the Regalia deserved not so much heat as is expressed in his Letters, it being look'd upon by the King's Officers as a Temporality, and that [Page 11]it is in itself, a thing of no great consequence to the Church. That by the Letters to the Nuns of Charonne, and Chapter of Pamiez, the Order of Jurisdictions had been disturb'd, and the Right of Ordinaries, and Metrapolitans violated; that he had been exalted above the Canonical Constitutions, and that these Designs against Rules the most Sacred might weaken that Union, which the Churches of France ought inviolably to keep with the holy See. And lastly, that the King be desired to permit the Prelates of his Kingdome to meet in a National Council, or to call a General Assembly of the Clergy, to consist of two Deputies of the first Order, and two of the second, in every Province, and that their President, and six Commissioners be desired to attend his Majesty upon this occasion, which being done accordingly, the King was pleased to Order a General Assembly of the Clergy, who having duely considered the entolerable encroachments and usurpations of the See of Rome, did, 19. March 1602. S.N. Unanimously Resolve as follows, viz.
That a General Council is above the Pope.
That he has no power, in Temporals, in any Prince's Dominions.
That he has no power to Depose Princes.
That he has no power to Absolve Subjects from their Oaths of Fidelity.
That he is not Infallible.
The first of these Resolutions destroys the Pope's Supremacy in Temporals; and the last destroys his Infallibility.
The next day the Assembly, by their President, and Commissioners, presented to His Majesty these Resolutions, signed by the whole Assembly, and he, at their request, caused an Edict to be Published, thereby Ordering that the same be Register'd in all the Courts of Parliament, in all Courts of Judicature Ecclesiastical, and Civil, and in all Universities, and Colliges in his Dominions. That all Professors in Divinity, and Canon Law, do teach the Doctrin therein contained (being the ancient Doctrine of that Kingdome) and do subscribe the same. That no Person Secular, or Regular shall be received as Doctor, or Licentiate in Divinity, or Canon Law, till he has maintain'd this Doctrine by publick Disputation. And that no person, either Subject, or Stranger, shall presume to teach any thing, contrary to this Doctrine, within his Dominions. The said Resolutions were the 23d of March Ratified, and pass'd in the Parliament of Paris, and a Copy of them sent to the Pope, together with a particular Account of all their Proceedings, and their Reasons for what they had done. But the Pope, instead of acknowledging his Usurpations, which had been the cause of these Proceedings of the Assembly, vindicates himself, and by the following Letter, damns and makes utterly null, and void, all that had been done, or should be done in this Assembly, and they in requital make, and send him the Protestation, which damns his damnatory Letter, and justifies their said Proceedings.
Literae Pontificiales ad Clerum Gallicanum. Venerabilibus Fratribus Archi Episcopis, Episcopis, &c.
PAternae Charitati, qua Charissimum in Christo Filium nostrum Ludovicum Regem Christianissi mum, Ecclesias vestras, Vos Ipsos, & universum istud Regnum amplectimur, permolestum accidit ac plane acerbum cognoscere, ex Vestris literis die Tertia Februarii ad Nos datis, Episcopos, Clerum (que) Galliae, qui Corona olim & gaudium erant Apostolicae sedis, ita se erga illum in praesens gerere, ut cogamur (multis cum lachrimis) usurpare Propheticum illud, Filii Matris meae pugnaverunt adversus me. quanquam adversus vos ipsos potius pugnatis, dum Nobis in ea Causa resistitis, in qua Vestrarum Ecclesiarum salus ac libertas agitur, & in qua Nos, pro Juribus, & dignitate Episcopali in isto Regnotuenda, [Page 2]ab aliquibus Ordinis Vestri piis & fortibus Viris appellati, abs (que) mora insurreximus, & jampridem in gradu stamus; nullas privatas nostras rationes secuti sed debitae Ecclesiis omnibus solicitudini, & intimo amori erga vos satisfacturi.
Nihil sane laetum, & Vestris nominibus dignum eas Literas continere, in ipso earum limine intelleximus; Nam, praeter ea, quae de Norma in Comitiis convocandis, peragendis (que) servata afferebantur, animadversimus ea ordiri a metu Vestro, quo suasore nunquam sacerdotes DEI esse solent, in arduis & excelsis pro Religione & Ecclesiastica Libertate, vel aggrediendo fortes, vel perficiendo constantes; quem quidem metum falso judicavistis, posse Vos in sinum Nostrum effundere. In sinu enim nostro hospitari perpetuo debet charitas Christi, quae foras mittit, & longe arcet a se Timorem; qua charitate erga vos, Regnum (que) Galliae, Paternum Cor Nostrum flagrare, multis jam ac magnis experimentis cognosci potuit, quae huic referre non est necesse. Si quid est autem in quo bene merita de vobis sit Charitas nostra, esse inprimis putamus, hoc ipsum Regaliae Negocium, ex quo, si serio res perpendatur, omnis Ordinis vestri [Page 3]Dignitas, at (que) Authoritas pendet. Timuistis ergo, ubi non erat timor; Id unum timendum Vobis erat, ne apud Deum, homines (que) redargui jure possetis loco, at (que) honori vestro & Pastorali Officio debito defuisse; Memoriae vobis, repetenda erant quae Antiqui illi Sanctissimi Praesules, quos quamplurimi postea qualibet aetate sunt imitati Episcopalis Constantiae & Fortitudinis exempla. In hujusmodi casibus, ad vestram eruditionem ediderunt, intuendae Imagines Praedecessorum Vestrorum, non solum, qui patrum, sed qui nostra quo (que) memoria floruerunt. Et qui Ivonis Carnotensis dicta laudatis, debuistis facta etiam, cum res posceret, imitari. Nostis quae is fecerit, passus (que) sit in turbulenta illa & periculosa contentione inter Urbanum Pontificem, & Philippum Regem, muneris sui esse arbitratus contra Regiam indignationem stare, Donis spoliari, carceres & exilia perferre, deserentibus aliis Causam meliorem. Officii vestri erat sedis Apostolicae authoritati studia vestra adjungere, & pastorali pectore, humilitate sacerdotali, Causam Ecclesiarum vestrarum apud Regem agere; Ejus conscientiam de tota re instruendo, etiam cum periculo, Regium in vos animum Irritandi, ut possetis in posterum sine Rubore quotidiana [Page 4]Psalmodia DEUM alloquentes Davidica verba proferre; Loquebar de Testimon is in conspectu Regum & non confundebar. Quanto magis id vobis faciendum fuit, tam perspecta at (que) explorata optimi Principis Justitia & Pietate, quem singulari benignitate, Episcopos audire, Ecclesiis favere, & Episcopalem potestatem intemeratam velle, Vos ipsi scribitis, & Nos magna cum voluptate legimus in literis vestris. Non dubitamus si stetissetis ante Regem, pro causae tam justae defensione, ne (que) de futura vobis verba, quae loqueremini, ne (que) Regi Cor docile, quo vestris annueret postulatis. Nunc cum muneris vestri & Regiae aequitatis quodammodo obliti' in tanti momenti negotio, silentium tenueritis, non videmus quo probabili fundamento fignificetis vos ad ita agendum aductos; Quod in controversia victi sitis, quod causa cecideritis; quomodo cecidit qui non stetis? Ecquis Vestrum tam gravem, tam justam causam, tam sacrosancta moravit apud Regem? Cum tamen Praedecessores vestri cum in simili periculo constituti, non semel apud superiores Galliae Reges, imo apud hunc ipsum libera voce defenderint victores (que) a Regio conspectu'discesserint, Relatis etiam ab aequissimo Rege praemiis Pastoralis [Page 5]Officii strenue impleti. Quii vestrum in arenam descendit, ut opponeret murum pro Domo Israel? Quis ausus est invidiae se offerre? Quis vel vocem unam emisit memorem pristinae libertatis? Clamarunt interim, sicuti scribitis, & quidem in mala causa; pro Regio jure clamarunt Regis Administri, cum vos in optima pro Christi honore sileritis; ne (que) illa solidiora, quod redituri nobis rationem, seu verius Excusationem allaturi, Rerum in hujusmodi Comitiis per Vos actarum, exaggeratis periculum, ne sacerdotium & Imperium inter se collidantur, & mala quae exinde in Ecclesiam & Rempublicam consequi possent; proinde existimasse Vos ad officium vestrum pertinere, aliquam inire rationem tollendi de medio Gliscentis Dissidii, nullam vero apparuisse Commodiorem, remedio ab Ecclesiae Patribus indicato, utili condescentione Canones temperandi, pro temporum necessitate; ubi ne (que) Fidei veritas ne (que) morum honestas periclitentur debere, ab ordine vestro deberi a Gallicana, imo ab universa Ecclesia, Plurimum Regi tam praeclar de Catholica Religione merito & indies Magis mereri cupienti: Propterea vos jure vestro decedentes, illud in Regem contulisse. Omittimus [Page 6]hic commemorare, quoe significatis de appellato a vobis Seculari Magistratu, a quo victi discesseritis. Cupimus enim hujus facti memoriam aboleri, & volumus ea vos verba e literis vestris expungere, ne in Actis Cleri Gallicani resideant ad dedecus vestri nominis sempiternum. Quae de Innocentio tertio, Benedicto duodecimo, Bonifacio octavo in vestram defensionem adducitis, non defuere, qui vestris lucubrationibus ostenderint, quam frivola at (que) extranea sint huic Causae. Et magis notum est quam ut opus sit commemorare quo Zelo qua Constantia, eximii illi Pontifices Ecclesiae Libertatem defenderint adversus Seculares potestates, tantum abest, ut eorum Exempla Possint errori vestro suffragari. Caeterum altro admittimus, & Laudamus concilium relaxandi Canonum disciplinam pro Temporum necessitate, ubi id fieri Possit, Sine fidei & morum dispendio; Imo addimus cum Augustino, toler andi aliquando pro Bono Unitatis, qua pro Bono Aquitatis odio habenda sunt; Ne (que) eradicanda Zizania, ubi periculum sit, ni simul etiam Triticum eridicetur. Id ita tamen accipi oportet, ut in aliquo tdntum peculiari casu & ad tempus, & ubi necessitas urget licitum sit, Siouti Factum est [Page 7]ab Ecclesia cum Arrianos, & Donitistas Episcopos ejurato errore, suis Ecclesiis restituit, ut populos, qui secuti eos fuerant, in Officio contineret. Aliud est, ubi disciplina Ecclesiae, per universum Amplissimi Regni ambitum sine Temporis termino, & cum manifesto periculo, ne Exemplum latius manet labefactetur, imo evertitur ipsius Disciplinae & Hierarchae Ecclesiasticae fundamentum, sicuti evenire necesse esset, si quae a Rege Christianissimo in negocio Regaliae nuper acta sunt, conniventibus, imo consentientibus Vobis contra Sacrorum Canonum & praesertim Generalis Consilii Ludgdunensis Authoritatem, contra notam jampridem Vobis in ea re mentem nostram, & contra ipsam Jurisjurandi Religionem, qua vos Deo, Romanae vestrisque Ecclesiis obligastis, cum Episcopali Caractere imbueremini; Haec sancta sedes Executioni mandari & malum invalescere diutius deferendo permitteret, ac non ea nos protradita Divinitus humilitati nostrae suprema in universam Ecclesiam potestate, solenni more praedecessorum nostrorum vestigiis inherentes improbaremus? Cum praesertim per abusum Regalioe non solum everti disciplinam Ecclesiae res ipsa doceat; sed etiam Fidei ipsius integritatem in discrimen vocari, facile intelligatur ex ipsis Regiorum [Page 8]Decretorum verbis, quae jus conferenda Beneficia Regi vindicant; non tanquam prosluens ex aliqua Ecclesiae concessone, sed tanquam Ingenitum & C [...]aevum Regiae Coronae. Illam vero partem literarum vestrarum non sine Animi horrore legere potuimus, in qua dicitis, vos jure vestro decedentes illud in Regem contulisse; quasi Ecclesiarum, quae curae vestrae cerditae fuere, essetis arbitri non custodes, & quasi Ecclesiae ipsae & Spiritualia earum jura possent sub potestatis secularis jugum mitti ab Episcopis, qui se pro earum libertate in servitutem dare deberent. Vos sane ipsi hanc veritatem agnovistis & confessi estis, dum alibi pronunciastis Jus Regaliae Servitutem quandam esse, quae in eo praesertim quod spectat Beneficiorum Collationem imponi non potest; nisi Ecclesia concedente vel saltem consentiente. Suo jure vos ergo jus illud in Regem contulistis? Cum Sacri Canones distrahi vetent jura Ecclesiarum quo modo ea vos distrahere, in Animum induxistis, quasi eorundem Canonum Authoritati derogare liceat vobis? Revocate in Memoriam, quoe inclitus ille Conteraneus vester Clarevalensis Abbas non Gallicanae modo, sed etiam universalis Ecclesiae lumen a vobis merito nuncupatus, Eugenium Pontificem officii sui admonens [Page 9]reliquit Scripta praeclare meminisset, si esset cui claves creditae cui oves creditae sunt. Esse quidem et alios coeli Janitores & Gregum Pastores, sed cum habeant illi Assignatos Greges, singuli singulos, ipsi universos creditos, uni unum nec modo ovium sed et Pastorum Eugenium esse pastorem. Ideo (que) juxta Canounum statuta alies Episcopos vocatos fuisse in partem solicitudinis ipsum in plenitudinem potestatis. Ex quibus verbis quantum vos admoneri par est de obsequio et obedientia, quam debetis huic Sanctae sedi, cui nos Deo Authore quamquam immeriti praesidemus, tantundem pastoralis nostra solicitudo excitatur ad inchoandum tandum aliquando in hoc negocio, quam nimia fortasse longanimitas nostra, dum poenetentia spatium damas, hactenus distulit Apostolici muneris Executionem. Quamobrem per praesentes literas tradita nobis ab Omnipotenti Deo Autoritate, improbamus, rescindimus, & Cassamus quae in vestris commitiis acta sunt in negotio Regalliae, cum omnibus inde secutis, & quae in posterum attentari contingent, ea (que) perpetuo inita, & inania declaramus, quamvis cum sint ipsa per se manifesto nulla Cassatione aut declaratione hujusmodi non egerent. Speramus tamen vos ipsas (que) ipsos re melius considerata caeteri [Page 10]retractione consulturos conscientiae vestrae, & Cleri Gallicani existimationi ex quo Clero, Sicuti huc usque non defuerè, ita in posterum non defuturos considimus, qui Boni Pastoris Exemplo libenter animam parati sint pro Ovibus, & pro Testemento Patrum suorum. Nos quidem, pro Officii nostri debito, parati sumus Dei adjutrice gratia sacrificari sacrificium justiciae, & Ecclesia Dei jura ac libertatem, & hujus sedis sanctae Authoritatem Dignitatemque defendere, nihil de nobis, sed omnia de eo presumentes; qui nos confortat, & operatur in nobis, & qui jussit Petrum super aquas ad se venire. Praeterit enim figura hujus Mundi, & Dies Domini appropinquat. Sic ergo agamus, venerabiles Fratres ac dilecti Filii, ut cum summus Pater familias, & Princeps Pastorum rationem ponere voluerit, cum servis suis sanguinem pessundatae, & Laceratae Ecclesiae quam suo acquisivit de nostris manibus non requirat. Vobis interim omnibus Apostolicam Benedictionem cui Caelestem accedere optamus intimo Paterni amoris affectu impartimur. Datum Romae &c.
The Popes Letter to the Clergy of France, To the Reverend Brethren, the Arch-Bishops, Bishops, &c.
IT hath been an extream grief and disturbance to that Paternal affection, which we have for our dear Son Lewis, the Most Christian King, your Churches, your selves, and the whole Kingdom, to understand, by your Letter to us, dated Feb. 3. that the Bishops, and Clergy of France, which heretofore were the Crown, and joy of the Apostolick See, should now so demean themselves as to compel us with many tears, to use the saying of the Prophet, The Sons of my Mother have fought against me: though indeed you rather fight against your selves, while you oppose us in that Cause, in which the Welfares and Liberties of your Churches are involved, and in which [Page 2]being called upon, by some pious and couragious men of your Order, we immediately appeared, for the defence of the Episcopal Rights and Dignity, in that Kingdom, and we have already begun to act; not regarding our own private Interests, but shall give due satisfaction to all the Churches, and also to our own care of, and Affection toward you.
That your said Letter contains nothing in it, either pleasing to us, or worthy of your selves, the very beginning of it discovers; for, besides what it mentions of a Rule, observed in calling, and holding Assemblies, we take notice that it proceeds from Fear, which Gods Priests were never wont to choose for their Counsellor, in matters of Difficulty, and importance, relating to Religion, and Ecclesiastical Liberty, either in attacking the valiant, or compleating the constant; which fear you falsly supposed you could have infused into our breast. For the love of Christ, which casts out, and drives away fear, ought always to dwell there; and with what affection our fatherly bowels have yearned toward you, and the [Page 3]Kingdom of France, hath been manifested by many Signal instances, which it will be needless here to insert. But if our love merits well of you in any thing, we think it doth particularly in the business of the Regalia, on which if you seriously consider it, the whole Dignity, and Authority of your order depends. So that you have seared where no fear was; whereas you should only have feared the just censure both of God, and Men, for having been wanting to your Duty, Honour, and Pastoral Office: you should often have called to mind the holy Prelates of old, whose examples of Episcopal constancy and courage, were followed by many in after ages. In such cases the lives of your Predecessors are proposed for your Imitation, not only those who flourished in your Fathers days, but even within your own Memory. And you, who commend the sayings of Ivon Carnocensis, should also have imitated his actions, where occasion required it; you know what he did, and suffered in that turbulent and dangerous Contention, between Pope Urban, and King Philip, thinking it his [Page 4]Duty to incur the Kings displeasure, to be deprived of his goods, and indure imprisonment, and exile, while others deserted that Righteous cause. It is your Duty to joyn your Endeavours with the Authority of the Apostolick See, and with a Pastoral heart, and Priestly humility, to plead the cause of your Churches before the King, by informing his Conscience of the whole matter, though it be with the danger of Provoking his indignation against you; that so you may, hereafter, be able, without blushing, to sing daily the words of David, I have declared thy Testimonies before Kings and was not ashamed. How much rather then ought you to have done the like, having had large experience of the Justice and Piety of the best of Kings, who (as your selves have written, and we with great delight, have read in your letter of his singular goodness,) hearkens to the Bishops, favours the Churches, and preserves the Episcopal Power inviolate; so that had you pleaded with the King in the defence of so just a Cause, we doubt not, either that you would have wanted words to express your desires, or he inclinations [Page 5]to grant them: But having, as it were, forgot your own duty, and the Kings equity, you have been silent in a business of so great moment, and we cannot imagine upon what probable ground you say you were induced to it, that you were overuled in the controversy; and that you fell in the cause; for how can he fall who never stood? Did any of you ever plead in so just, so weighty, and so sacred a Cause before the King? And yet your Predecessors, when they were in the like danger, have many times, with great freedom, defended this Cause, in the presence of former Kings of France, yea, before this very King too, and have returned victorious, bringing with them the reward of a Pastoral Office from that just Prince. Who among you enters the Lists to fight for the House of Israel? who dares expose himself to envy? who hath spoken so much as one word in memory of the Antient Liberty? They have indeed (as you write) spoken loud enough, but it was in a bad Cause; and when the Kings Ministers cried aloud for the Kings Right; you in the best of Causes (viz. for the [Page 6]Honour of Christ) were silent. Nor is it of any more validity that when you give us an account of (or more truly make your excuse for) what you had done in such Assemblies, you aggravate the jealousie that the Ecclesiastical, and Secular Powers were like to clash, and that great mischeifs might follow thereupon, both to Church and State, and therefore you thought it your Duty to consider, how a stop might be put, to the growing differences; and that none seem'd more Proper to you, than that which was prescribed by the Fathers of the Church, viz. a wholesome Condescention for moderating the Canons, according to the necessity of the time, when neither the verity of the Faith or honesty of manners will be endangered thereby. Then you declare that your Order, the Gallican Church, yea, the Universal Church, owes very much to your renowned King, who, you say, has already merrited highly of the Catholick Religion, and strives dayly to merit more; by which Act you have relinquished your right, and have given it to the King. We forbear here to mention what you tell us of [Page 7]the Secular Magistrate you appealed to, and were overcome by him, for we desire that the memory of that action may be oblitterated, and would have you expunge those words out of your Letter, that they may not remain among the Acts of the Gallican Clergy, to the perpetual infamy of your Names. As for what you alledge in your defence, concerning Innocent, 3. Benedicti, 12. and Boniface 8. Some have not been wanting, who have shewed you how frivolous, and foreign it is to this Cause. And it is so well known that it needs not to be mentioned with what Zeal and constancy, those famous Popes defended the Liberty of the Church against the Secular Power, so farr are their examples from favouring your errour. But we freely allow, and commend the advice of moderating the discipline of the Canons, according to the necessity of the times, when it may be done without any injury to Faith, and Manners; yea, I add with St. Augustin, That may sometimes be allowed for the sake of Unity, which for the sake of equity ought to be abhorr'd. Nor are the tares to be plucked up when there is danger of plucking [Page 8]up the Corn with them. Yet this ought so to be understood as that it is Lawful in some purticular cases only, and for a time, and when necessity requires; as the Church did when she restored the Arrians and Donatist Bishops to their Churches, as soon as they had renounced their errours, that she might keep the people, which had followed them, in their due obedience to her. But it is otherwise when the Discipline of the Church is destroyed, throughout so great a kingdom, without any limitation of time, and when there is manifest danger that the infection will spread farther, yea, the very foundation of Discipline, and of Ecclesiastical Hierarchy it self is subverted; and this must needs be, if you connive at, yea consent to those things, which the most Christian King has lately Ordered in the business of the Regalia, contrary to the Authority of the Sacred Canons, and particularly those of the General Counsel of Lyons, contrary to our mind in that affair, long since signified to you, and contrary to the very obligation of that Oath with which you bound your selves to God, and to the Roman, and your own Churches, when [Page 9]you received the Episcopal Character. Should the Holy See, suffer this mischief to be put in execution, and to get ground by farther Delays? or shall we not, according to the supream Power over the Church Universal, given by God to our humility and treading in the steps of our Predecessors solemnly damn it? and the rather, since it plainly appears, that not only the Discipline of the Church is subverted, by the abuse of the Regalia; but that the soundness of the Faith is also called in Question, may easily be discovered by the very words of the King's Decrees, which claim for him that Right of conferring Benefices, not as being derived from any concession of the Church but as connote, and coeval with the Regal Crown; but I could not, without extream horror of mind, read that part of your Letter, which tells us, that you have quitted your Right, and have transferred it to the King, as if you had the absolute disposal, not the Gaurdianship of the Churches committed to your charge, and as if the Churches themselves, and their Spiritual Rights might be subjected, to the yoke of Seeular Power [Page 10]by the Bishops, who for the Liberty thereof, ought to undergo the greatest Servitude. And indeed you your selves confess this truth, by saying elsewhere, That the Right of the Regalia is a kind of Servitude, which (especially as it relates to the collation of Benefices) cannot be imposed, but by the Grant; or at least by the consent of the Church. By what Right then have you transferred that Right to the King? And since the sacred Canons prohibit the alienation of the Rights of your Churches, how could you bring your minds to alienate them, as if you could lawfully derogate from the authority of those Canons? Remember what is what is written by your famous Countrey-man, Clarevalensis Abbas (by you deservedly called the Light, not only of the Gallican, but of the Universal Church) who admonishing Pope Eugenius of his duty, tells him that, If he was the person, to whom the Keys and to whom the Sheep were committed, tho' there were other keepers of Heaven Gates, and Pastors of Flocks, yet, while they had each their particular Flocks designed them, all of them, and they themselves also, were committed [Page 11]to him alone; and that Eugenius was the sole Shepheard, not only of the Sheep but of the Shepheards too; and therefore according to the Decrees of the Canons, whereas other Bishops were called to take part of the care, and charge, he was called to the full power. By which words, as you are admonished of that duty and obedidience, which you owe to the holy See, (of which by the divine Authority we, though unworthy, are President) so is our Pastoral care excited, to begin at length to execute our Apostolick duty in this affair, which, perhaps, our too much patience, in giving space for repentance, has hitherto defer'd; wherefore according to the Authority, given unto us by Almighty God, we do, by these Presents, damn, abolish, and utterly make void, all that has been done by your Assembly in the business of the Regalia, and all that has since ensued thereupon; together with whatsoever shall hereafter be done: And we do declare the same to be forever null and void, tho', being manifestly null of it self, it needed no such damnation, or declaration. But we hope that, upon better [Page 12]consideration, you your selves will by a voluntary recantarion, consult the quiet of your own Consciences, and the reputation of the Gallican Clergy; among whom, as there never has been, so I trust, there never will be wanting, some, who, after the Example of the good Shepherd, will readily lay down their lives for the Sheep and for the Testament of their Fathers. And as for our own part we are ready, according to the duty of our Office, to offer up the Sacrifice of Righteousness (by the assistance of the Divine Grace) and to defend the Rights and Liberties of God's Church, and the Authority, and Dignity of this Holy See; not presuming on our own strength, but expecting all from him, who strengthens us, and works in us, and commanded Peter to come to him upon the water. For the fashion of this world passeth away, and the Day of the Lord is at Hand. Wherefore, Reverend Brethren, and dear Sons, let us so demean our selves that when the great Master of the Househould, and Prince of Pastors shall call his Servants to an account, he may not require at at our hands the Blood of his [Page 13]afflicted and dismembred Church, which he hath purchased with his own. In the mean time with our dearest affection, and Paternal Love we send Apostolick benediction to you all, to which we pray that Gods Blessing may be added.
Dated at Rome 11th. April 1682.
Protestatio Cleri Gallicani.
ECclesia Gallicana suis se regit Legibus, proprias (que) consuetudines inviolate custodit, quibus Gallicani Pontifices, majores nostri, nulla definitione, nulla (que) autoritate derogatum esse voluerunt, & quas ipsi summi Pontifices agnoscere, & laudare dignati sunt: Prope tamen est, ut perfringantur leges justae, quas prisca Galliarum Religio, reverenda (que) vetustas inconcassas fecerunt [Page 16]Ecce etenim (quod sine acerbissimo animi Sensu dici non potest) hisce annis superioribus, per provincias, & Galliarum civitates Literae Apostolicae seminatae sunt, quibus antiqua Gallicanae Ecclesiae jura, & patriae Instituta aperte violantur; ex iis scilicet intelligimus de Regni Ecclesiarum (que) nostrarum negotiis, contra mores nostros usurpatam esse cognitionem inauditis partibus, pronuntiata Judicia; jurisdictionem Episco porum concultatam, deni (que) contra Canones Ecclesiasticos, & contra consuetudines illustrissimae Gallicanae [Page 17]Ecclesiae Metropolitanae gladium excommunicationis intentatum Esse.
Dolet Clerus Gallicanus, queritur (que) ex his & aliis quae exinde facta sunt, oppressas Libertates Ecclesiarum, pertarbatam Ecclesiae pacem, illatum dedecus Pontificali Ordini, Terminosque perruptos, quos patres sui constituerunt: & ne officium, & causam suam deserere, aut praevaricari suae Dignitati, Ecclesiarum (que) suarum cummodis videantur Publica contestatione obliqui contra, & inertis silentii a se movere culpam, decrevit; ut exemplo [Page 18]patrum suorum, in posterum provisum sit, ne quid nocere possit, juribus, & Libertatibus Ecclesiae Gallicanae, eoque magis inclinat in eam sententiam quod summus Pontifex Innocentius xi. morum antiquorum, & Cannonicae Disciplinae severus actor, non patietur fieri injuriam Decretis suorum Praedecessorum & Canonibus promulgatis, qui rescindebant quidquid subreptum contra privata Provinciarum jura, nolebant si quidem Ecclesiarum privilegia, quae semper conservanda sunt, confundi Propterea [Page 19]Clerus idem Gallicanus, professus, antea omnem reverentiam, obedientiam (que) quam semper exhibuit, perpetuo (que) exhibiturus est Cathedrae Petri, in qua potentiorem agnoscit principatum coram C. D. Joanne Baptista Lauro, protonotario Apostolico, & nuntiaturae Apostolicae Galliarum Auditore, protestari constituit sicut de facto protestatur per praesentes, ne literis Pontificiis datis ad Episcopum Aepamiensem, die Secunda Octobris 1680. ad Ecclesiae Aepamiensis Capitulim, eadem 2d a die Octobris ad Archiepiscopum [Page 20]Tolosanum die Prima Januarii 1681. ad Moniales, seu Canonicas Regulares Congregationis, B. M. Ʋ. Monastterii de Charonna die 7. Augusti, & 15. Octobris, vel aliis exinda, & illiarum virtute actis, & secutis quibuscun (que) damnum aliquod, seu praejudicium juribus Ecclesiae Gallicanae fieri possit, neve ejus in aliis locis, & Temporibus hoc in exemplum, & Authoritatem trahat, ut antiquos Ecclesiae Canones avitas Regni consuetudines receptos (que) mores Ecclesiae Gallicanae oppugnare audeat, aut [Page 21]propterea quidquam sibi licere existimet; Immo vero nemo nesciat hoc nihil obstare quo minus Canones, consuetudines Jura, & Libertates ejusdem Ecclesiae pristimam vim, & Authoritatem retineant, & custodiant. Hoc clerus Gallicanus sibi, suis (que) privilegiis cautum, consultum (que) volens, & omnibus notum esse, ne quis ignorantiae causam praetexat. Datum Comitiis Generalibus Cleri Gallicani Lutetiae habitis, Anno Domini, 1682. Die vero Sexta mensis Maii.
The Protestation of the Gallican Clergy.
THE Gallican Church is Govern'd by her own Laws, and keeps inviolate her own Customs, which the Gallican Prelates, our Ancestors, would not in the least suffer to be infring'd by any Decree, or Authority whatsoever, and which the Popes themselves have vouchsafed to acknowledge and commend: Yet now those just Laws, which the Old Gallican Religion, [Page 16]and venerable Antiquity had made unalterable, are like to be destroyed; for (which cannot be mention'd without great trouble of mind) these last preceding years, Apostolick Letters have been dispers'd through the several Provinces, and Cities of France, by which the Ancient Rights of the Gallican Church, and statutes of our Country are openly violated; for by them we find, that, contrary to our usages, cognisance of the affairs both of our Kingdom, and Churches, has been usurped, sentence pronounced, without hearing the parties concerned, the [Page 17]Jurisdiction of the Bishops trampled on, and in fine the Sword of Excomunication drawn, contrary to the Ecclesiastical Canons, and Customs of the famous Galican Metropolitan Church.
Now the Gallican Clergy are troubled, and complain that by reason of these, and other things done since, the Liberties of their Churches are oppress'd the peace of the Church disturb'd the pontifical Order disgrac'd, and the bounds fix'd by their Ancestors, Transgres'd: And that they may not be thought to abandon their Cause, and Duty, or betray their Dignity, [Page 18]and the profits of their Churches, they have determined openly to declare against these things by a publick Protestation, and thereby to remove from themselves the scandal of a base and cowardly silence, that so, according to the example of their Fathers, they may provide that hereafter nothing may be able to injure the Rights, and Liberties of the Gallican Church; and they do the rather incline to this opinion, because Pope Innocent xi. being a strict executor of antient Customs, and Canonical Discipline will not suffer any [Page 19]injury to be done to the Decrees of his Predecessors, and those publick Canons which made void whatsoever had crept in, contrary to the private Rights of the Provinces; for they would not permit the priviledges of the Churches to be confounded which ought always to be preserved. Wherefore the said Gallican Clergy having first professed all due Reverence and Obedience, which they ever have paid, and ever will pay, to St. Peters See where they acknowledge a greater Power resides) have determined to Declare and protest and by these Presents [Page 20]do Declare and Protest, in the presence of the most Noble Lord Joannes Baptista Laurus, Apostolick Protonotary, and Auditor of the Apostolick Legation in France, that, neither the Popes Letters to the Bishop of Pamiez Dated October the 2d. 1680. to the Chapter of the Church of Pamiez the same day, to the Arch Bishop of Tholouse, January the 1. 1681, to the Nuns, or Female Canonical Regulars, of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Monastery of Charonne August the 7th, and 15. October, or by any others [Page 21]since, or by any things acted, or done by Vertue of the same, the least Damage, or prejudice whatsoever can accrew to the Rights of the Gallican Church; nor can he, at other places, and times, draw this into Precedent, and Authority, that he should thereby presume to oppose the Ancient Canons of the Church, Customs of the Kingdom, and the receiv'd usages of the Gallican Church, or that therefore he should think that he may do what he lists. On the contrary, let all Men know that this doth not at all hinder the Canons, Customs, Rights, and [Page 22]Liberties of the said Church, from retaining and keeping their Antient force, and Authority, the Gallican Clergy having thus provided for, and secured themselves, and their Priveledges, do Will, and Require that these Presents be made publick that so no Man may pretend Ignorance.
Dated in the General Assembly of the Gallican Clergy at Paris, May the 6th. 1682.