Essay Sample on The French Revolution: The Collision of Church and Enlightenment

Introduction

Various concepts have been given about the outbreak of French revolutionary and what caused it. However, what is clear is that during the eighteenth century, the Church was attracting criticism from the growing philosophers who questioned every aspect of French society and government. The attempted to provide enlightenment with a quest to promote reason which has minimal if anything to praise in the Church. While they appreciated the Church for its ability to encourage social orders and moral values, it was condemned for its power and influence. The scandal surrounding its close link with the monarchy exacerbated cruel treatment of followers, and the surrounding divisive theological movement of Jansenism were some of the reasons for attacking the Church.

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The French revolutionary government had the Catholic Church as the most significant obstacle of them having total control over the French citizens. They were, therefore against the teaching of the Catholic Church and they, therefore, wanted to exterminate the people who remained faithful to the Church. The people of France were all Catholics, and the pope was the leader of the Catholic Church. "Even religions such as Bohemia and Hungary, which had lost many Catholics to Protestantism grew more catholic in the middle to late 18th century" (Zehnder p. 86). There were individual liberties that had privileged the French authority, and they had negotiated about them, therefore, giving them considerable autonomy. The revolution, thus, affected the Catholic Church, and most of the churches were closed down.

The philosophy appreciated the Church for its significant role in promoting the social and moral order. The French revolution was against the Church for its monarchy and the scandals that were all around the theological movement of Jansenism. Also, the citizens lacked tolerance for religious minorities. These were the most excellent reasons why the revolution wanted to reduce the author and the power that the Catholic Church had in France. Despite the fact that the nuns were very devoted and helped the sick and the poor, the clergy didn't have responsibilities and hence they considered them to be less useful. The revolution made the citizens have a different view of the Church, which helped them to reduce the authority the Church had. The Church had a lot of wealth and owned about six per cent of the land in France and most hospitals; the Catholic Church-owned schools and churches. However, the kings and the chiefs wanted to change this by denying the Church its responsibility in governance. "over a long period, the French kings and chief ministers had thought the way to make France great was to centralize all power under the king -to make the king's government the only real government in France" (Zehnder p. 92). Nevertheless, all this was contributed by the revolutionary philosophy that was determined to weaken religion faith.

To make the Church weak, the first idea was to deny it the avenue of receiving resources that it used to finance its operations. As such, a revolution started with the intention of removal of the tithes and a call of limitation of the property that the church-owned. The people therefore joined into crowds and gathered around the religious house of Saint-Lazare, others in Paris and others around the neighboring convents. They searched for them where they found weapons and a lot of wealth. The Catholic Church was the Church of the majority of the people, but they then people lost trust for them for their perceived abuse and wealth. Some of the Pope and clergy were not happy with the idea of fighting the Church. "Writing to the Pope, Clement XI, Father Leonardo declared the world is crumbling beneath the crimes. The honour of God, trodden underfoot by the malice of men, demands reparations which only the penance of religious can provide" (Zehnder p. 87)

Before the revolution, the country was bankrupt since most of the wealth was directed to the Church. "France in the 18th century was a kingdom in desperate need of reform" (Zehnder p. 92) However, the revolution opened a path for the government since it carried out reforms whereby the clergy was forced to give up the tithes to the government and hence to fund them. The revolution also brought about a new set of rights of man and citizens, whereby people didn't have to be Catholics. They were given the rights to choose the religion and the Church that they wanted. The Church becomes vulnerable and open due to the reforms that had been made. After some time, the new National Assembly set up new rules that made the Church and all its property to be at the disposition of the nation and therefore all the church property belonged to the government (Palmer, p.112). The priest supported the idea suggesting that it was an act that helps to better the society and therefore should be viewed as a religious act.

The Assembly was, therefore under control of the Church and they made a civil constitution that concerned the clergy. According to the structure, the priesthood was supposed to be paid by the states according to the corresponding salary scale, and the priests and bishops were to be elected by the citizens of the country. However, the pope was against the new constitution and therefore, he failed to approve it. The Assembly had to solve the dispute they had with the Church, and they consequently made a new rule whereby the clergy was supposed to take an oath of loyalty in public concerning the constitution and also to surrender the position and their salaries.

Over 50 per cent of the clergy took the oath just as the constitution had stated. However, some promise was like a grave matter of their conscience, but they change their view when the pope who was against the new constitution supported it. The clergy and tie nobles, however, migrated rather than staying under that revolutionary regime. The people of France split since some supported the new Catholic Constitution will others remained loyal to the Church. The priest and bishops who had taken the oath were against the new constitution, and they hence preached against the revolution. Some of the citizens were against the Catholic Church and much supported the idea of the revolution. A crowd of women had even attacked sisters of the Parisian religion congregation accusing them of teaching their children false principles and also treated them a counter-revolution with the refractory priest (Discala, p. 97). This led to the introduction of a new set of rules whereby all forms of religious dressing were banned, and the pension of the refractory priests was prohibited and also they were prohibited from using the holy building.

All the refractory clergy and their followers were banned due to the suspension of the plot that they had against their enemies. There were civil wars, unrest, and even overseas threats of terror that were caused by the Church due to the reduction of its power. There was, therefore, the introduction of a new republican government which was known as the Convention. The Convention suspended the Catholicism and later forced all the bishops and priests to stop their practices and to get married. The churches were closed and converted to warehouses. However, the Catholic Church came back, and even the majority of the people in France joined back to catholic.

Conclusion

The French revolution was established to reduce the authority and rule that the Catholic Church had in the nation. The main obstacle was the Catholic Church, and therefore, they had to first overcome the Church by changing the peoples' perception concerning it. These led to the change of the people's opinion concerning the Catholic Church. The bishops and priests were forced to take oaths although some of them refused. The revolution, therefore, led to the splitting of the Catholic Church since people lost the faith that they had about the Church. However, although the Catholic Church had been suspended and the priest asked to marry, and churches turned to warehouses, it returned.

Works Cited

DiScala, Spencer M. Italy: from Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present. Routledge, 2018.

Palmer, Robert R. The world of the French Revolution. Routledge, 2016.

Zehnder, Christopher. Light to the Nations II: The Making of the Modern World. New York: Ave Maria University, 2011.