During the French Revolution,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

clergy in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

who agreed to swear an oath to the

Civil Constitution of the Clergy The Civil Constitution of the Clergy () was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the Caesaropapism, complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the National Constituent Assembly (France), French gove ...

were called ( English: "juring priests"). They were regarded as traitors to the faith by many Catholics, including the pope and Queen

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

—who famously refused to confess to a juring priest while on the gallows for her execution, thinking it would be an invalid

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

History of the term

The term was used pejoratively in the Catholic clergy to refer to priests who took an oath to the

on July 10, 1790.

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

, in an instruction of September 26, 1791, and in an apostolic letter of March 19, 1792, forbade the faithful to receive communion, the sacrament of marriage, or any other

from the hands of a parish priest or other juring priest, except for

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

in case of urgent necessity and when there is no priest nearby with legitimate authority. He also forbade the faithful to attend Mass, public prayer, or any other ceremony held by a juring priest and forbids non-juring priests to have any relationship with them in the spiritual order. A juring priest who assumes a function in the spiritual order was regarded an "intruder", a "rebel". To the question of whether a member of the faithful could assist or act as godfather in a

performed by a juring priest, the papal instruction answered: "No to both questions: for the reason that this , this intruder, is certainly schismatic; their

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

is notorious". The

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

recommended that should no longer be admitted to the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

unless they were completely recantation and underwent severe penance; some

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

went so far as to definitively refuse any reconciliation to " schismatics". In

regions, especially in western

, were ostracized by the faithful and sometimes driven out by

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...

with pitchforks. Famously, Queen

refused to confess to a juring priest while on the gallows for her execution, convinced by the papal instruction that it would be invalid

. The Concordat of July 15, 1801, concluded between the representatives of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, the

First Consul The Consulate () was the top-level government of the First French Republic from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the French Empire on 18 May 1804. During this period, Napoleon Bonap ...

, and

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

, put an end to the rift between the sworn clergy ("jureur") and the

refractory clergy During the French Revolution, the National Assembly abolished the traditional structure of the Catholic Church in France and reorganized it as an institution within the structure of the new French government through the Civil Constitution of t ...

(who had refused to take the oath). The

wanted this regulation to be applied immediately and so, on May 8, 1802, the minister Portalis wrote to the "civil

archbishops In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

and

", asking them to choose one of their vicars from the constitutional clergy and "a third or a quarter" of their parish priests and canons from this clergy. This instruction provoked the indignation of priests like Jean Brion, parish priest of Cirières in the

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...

region: "Gentlemen, if the 'citizen-bishop' of

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

(...) sends me a juring priest to check my accounts, I will throw the odious character out of the door!" Most constitutional bishops submitted to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, however, some constitutional priests refused what would appear to be an absolution or retraction, believing that their oath to the civil constitution did not put them in conflict with their faith. On the other hand, refractory priests such as Jean-Charles de Coucy, Bishop of La Rochelle, rejected the Concordat, which would put juring priests on an equal footing with non-juring priests: this refusal gave rise to an anti-concordat schism, the " Petite Église".

Fiction

Novels

* In ''

Ninety-three ''Ninety-Three'' (''Quatrevingt-treize'') is the last novel by the French writer Victor Hugo. Published in 1874, three years after the bloody upheaval of the Paris Commune that resulted out of popular reaction to Napoleon III's failure to win ...

'' by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, published in 1874, a scene describes the expulsion of a juring priest in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

by peasants revolting against the Republic. * In by Eugène Le Roy, published in 1899, Bonal, parish priest of Fanlac in

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...

during the Restoration, is a former juring priest: he takes in the eponymous character, a little orphaned peasant. As a model of justice and charity, he lived on the margins of the official Church.

History of the term

Fiction

Novels

See also

References

Bibliography

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