Charles François d'Abra de Raconis (1580–1646) was a French bishop and theologian.

Life

Born at Château de Raconis in 1580 of a

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

family, he died in 1646. In 1592, his family was converted to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith. He taught philosophy at the Collège du Plessis in 1609, theology at the

Collège de Navarre The College of Navarre (french: Collège de Navarre) was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris, rivaling the Sorbonne and renowned for its library. History It was founded by Queen Joan I of Navarre in 1305, who provided for th ...

in 1615, and three years later was appointed court preacher and royal almoner. At this epoch he took part in religious polemics and wrote works of controversy, anti-Calvinist and anti-Jansenist pamphlets. In 1637, he was appointed Bishop of Lavaur, but was not consecrated until 1639. In 1643 he was back in Paris, and controversies with the

Jansenists Jansenism was an Early modern period, early modern Christian theology, theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human Total depravity, depravity, the necessity of divine g ...

engaged him until his death.

Works

He is the author of original treatises of metaphysics, which Descartes would later read. His ''Summa totius philosophiae'' was published in 1617 and later developed in the ''Metaphysica seu prima ac suprema scientia'' (Paris, 1624).

Controversy

Saint Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. After ...

spurred him on and encouraged him. Two years before his death he published his "Examen et jugement du livre de la fréquente communion fait contre la fréquente communion et publié sous le nom du sieur Arnauld" (Paris, 1644). The following year he published a rejoinder to the reply to this.

Antoine Arnauld Antoine Arnauld (6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patristics. Cont ...

affected great contempt for him, and declared that his works were "despised by all respectable persons". Raconis also wrote against the heresy of "two heads of the Church Saints Peter and Paul," formulated by Martin de Barcos. The bishop's "Primauté et Souveraineté singulière de Saint Pierre" (1645) roused the wrath of his opponents. Towards 1645, the report was circulated in Paris that he had written to the Pope, denouncing the dangerous teachings in the "Fréquente Communion", and telling the Pope that some French bishops tolerated and approved of these impieties. The

Bishop of Grasse The former French Catholic diocese of Grasse was founded in the 4th or 5th century as the diocese of Antibes. It was originally suffragan to the Archbishop of Aix, and then to the Archbishop of Embrun. The see moved from Antibes to Grasse in 1244. ...

informed a general assembly of the clergy of this fact. This aroused their animosity, all the more since some of them had recommended Arnauld's work. They entered a complaint with the Nuncio, and then compelled Raconis to say whether he had written the Setter or not. Although he denied having done so, they drew up a common protestation against the accusations of which they were the objects and sent it to

Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in January ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abra de Raconis, Charles Francois d' Bishops of Lavaur 17th-century French Roman Catholic bishops 17th-century French Catholic theologians French educators Academic staff of the University of Paris Metaphysicians Roman Catholic writers 1580 births 1646 deaths