Joshua Bennett
The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a time of great upheaval for the Catholic Church in France. Catholicism was the official religion of France prior to the Revolution, and the Church was closely tied to the monarchy and the old regime. As a result, the Revolution posed significant challenges to the Church, and revolutionary policies led to the suppression of Catholic worship, the exile of priests, and the killing of many more. The exact number of Catholics who died during the French Revolution is unknown, but it is clear that the Revolution had a devastating impact on the Catholic Church in France, with thousands of priests exiled or killed, and a shift towards dechristianization and laïcité in the years that followed.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of the French Revolution | 1789-1799 |
| Official religion of France before the revolution | Catholicism |
| Number of priests exiled | 30,000 |
| Number of priests killed | Hundreds |
| Number of detainees as a result of the Law of September 1793 | 200,000 |
| Number of detainees who perished in prisons | 10,000 |
| Number of detainees who received death sentences from military and revolutionary tribunals | 17,000 |
| Year Catholicism was suppressed | 1794 |
| Year public worship was forbidden | October 1793 |
| Year the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was adopted | 26 August 1789 |
| Year the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was published | 1790 |
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What You'll Learn
The French Revolution's impact on religion
The French Revolution had a profound impact on the religious landscape of France, particularly in terms of the decline of the Catholic Church and the rise of atheism and alternative beliefs.
In 1789, on the eve of the Revolution, Catholicism was the official religion of France, with the vast majority of the population adhering to the Catholic faith. The French Catholic Church, known as the Gallican Church, recognised the authority of the Pope but had negotiated certain liberties that privileged the authority of the French monarch. The Church was the largest landowner in the country, controlling vast properties and extracting massive revenues from its tenants. It also had considerable income from the collection of tithes and held a dominant role in pre-revolutionary France.
However, the Revolution marked a significant shift in the country's religious dynamics. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, adopted in 1789, proclaimed freedom of religion across France, stating that "Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others" and that "no one may be disturbed for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by law." This declaration marked a turning point in the relationship between church and state.
The revolutionary authorities took a series of measures to suppress the Church's power and influence. They abolished the Catholic monarchy, nationalised Church property, and exiled or killed thousands of priests. In August 1789, the state cancelled the taxing power of the Church, and on 10 October 1789, the National Constituent Assembly seized Church properties and decided to sell them to fund the revolutionary currency. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed in July 1790, subordinated the Catholic Church to the French government, stripping clerics of their special rights and requiring them to swear an oath of fidelity to the state.
The Revolution also witnessed the emergence of new forms of moral religion, including the Cult of the Supreme Being and the Cult of Reason. Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety established these alternative religions to replace Catholicism, which they viewed as superstitious. The Cult of the Supreme Being was a deist belief system, while the Cult of Reason was the first state-sponsored atheistic religion, based on the principles of the Enlightenment and anti-clericalism.
In conclusion, the French Revolution significantly altered the religious landscape of France, challenging the dominance of the Catholic Church, fostering the emergence of alternative beliefs, and extending its religious impact beyond the nation's borders.
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The persecution of Catholics
The French Revolution (1789–1799) was followed by heavy persecution of the Catholic Church. At the time, France's population of 28 million was almost entirely Catholic, with full membership of the state denied to Protestant and Jewish minorities. Being French effectively meant being Catholic. The French Catholic Church, known as the Gallican Church, recognised the authority of the pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church but had negotiated certain liberties that privileged the authority of the French monarch.
The French Revolution posed problems for religion, but religion also posed plenty of problems for the new republic. The Church was heavily entangled with the old regime, and the clergy and nobles had more voting power than representatives for the rest of the population. The Church's wealth and perceived abuses meant that it did not have the trust of the French people. The Revolution's impact on the spiritual aspects of French culture was the result of a number of separate policies devised by various French governments between 1789 and the Concordat of 1801.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 proclaimed freedom of religion across France. However, the Declaration made no recognition of the special position of the Catholic Church. In 1790, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy stripped clerics of their special rights, and the clergy became employees of the state. The Catholic Church became a subordinate arm of the secular French government. The revolutionary authorities suppressed the Church, abolished the Catholic monarchy, and nationalised Church property.
The Convention now considered Catholicism in any form suspicious. Its association with ancien régime France, its adherence to values not of the Revolution’s making, and the private nature of worship seemed incompatible with the values of the Republic. From here sprung a movement referred to as ‘dechristianisation’, which aimed to excise religion from French society. Constitutional priests were advised to abandon the priesthood and were encouraged – or in some cases forced – to marry. Any priest that continued to practise, whether constitutional or refractory, now faced arrest and deportation. In October 1793, public worship was forbidden and over the next few months, all visible signs of Christianity were removed. Revolutionary armies eager to seek revenge on the institution that had sheltered so many counter-revolutionaries pursued this policy with particular enthusiasm.
The Law of 17 September 1793, also known as the Law of Suspects, intensified the programme of dechristianisation waged against the Christian people of France. Religious practice was outlawed and replaced with the cult of the Supreme Being, a deist state religion. The University of Chicago Encyclopedia Britannica puts the number of detainees as a result of this law at more than 200,000, noting that most never stood trial, although they languished in disease-infested prisons where 10,000 perished. Military and revolutionary tribunals gave death sentences to another 17,000. Revolutionary authorities exiled 30,000 priests and killed hundreds more.
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The abolition of Catholic monarchy
The French Revolution was a period of immense upheaval, and the Catholic Church was not spared from the dramatic changes that swept through France. In 1789, on the eve of the Revolution, the French state was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the Catholic Church, with its wealth and perceived abuses, became a target for reform. The Church was the largest landowner in the country, controlling vast properties and extracting massive revenues from tenants through compulsory tithes. It also held a dominant role in pre-revolutionary France, with the French Catholic Church (known as the Gallican Church) recognising the authority of the Pope but also negotiating certain liberties that privileged the authority of the French monarch. This gave the Church a distinct national identity characterised by considerable autonomy.
The Revolution brought about a gradual trend towards 'dechristianisation', which aimed to excise religion from French society. This movement was driven by various policies devised by different French governments between 1789 and the Concordat of 1801. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, adopted on 26 August 1789, proclaimed freedom of religion across France, but it made no recognition of the special position of the Catholic Church. On the night of 4 August 1789, the tithes gathered by the Catholic clergy were abolished, and the clergy agreed to allow the state to take over its funding.
The revolutionary government's policies towards the Church became increasingly aggressive. In July 1790, the National Constituent Assembly published the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which stripped clerics of their special rights. The clergy were to become employees of the state, elected by their parish or bishopric, and the number of bishoprics was reduced. All priests and bishops were required to swear an oath of fidelity to the new Constitution, dividing the French population between those who supported the 'Constitutional Church' and those who remained loyal to the refractory priests who refused to take the oath. The latter group was labelled 'non-jurors' or 'refractory priests', and many fled overseas.
The revolutionary authorities suppressed the Church, abolished the Catholic monarchy, and nationalised Church property. In October 1793, the Christian calendar was replaced, and Festivals of Liberty, Reason, and the Supreme Being were scheduled. The Cult of Reason, an atheistic religion based on Enlightenment principles, and the Cult of the Supreme Being, a deist state religion, emerged as new forms of moral religion. The dechristianisation campaign extended to the destruction of statues, plates, and other iconography from places of worship, as well as the removal of all visible signs of Christianity. By 1794, France's churches and religious orders were closed down, and religious worship was suppressed.
The French Revolution's impact on the Catholic Church was significant, and it resulted in a period of dechristianisation that transformed the religious landscape of France. The abolition of the Catholic monarchy and the suppression of religious practices marked a dramatic shift in the relationship between church and state in France.
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The outlawing of religious practice
The French Revolution saw the outlawing of religious practice and the persecution of the Catholic Church. In 1789, Catholicism was the official religion of France, with the vast majority of the population adhering to it. However, by 1794, France's churches and religious orders were closed down, and religious worship was suppressed. This was a result of a series of policies conducted by various governments of France during the Revolution, which aimed to appropriate the great landed estates and large sums of money held by the Catholic Church, as well as terminate Christian religious practice and the religion itself.
The Revolution's impact on the spiritual aspects of French culture was significant, with the outlawing of religious practice and the emergence of new forms of moral religion, including the deistic Cult of the Supreme Being and the atheistic Cult of Reason, briefly mandated by the revolutionary government in April 1794. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 proclaimed freedom of religion across France, but this did not protect the Catholic Church from attacks on its corruption and wealth. The revolutionary government seized Church properties and sold them to fund the assignat revolutionary currency.
The French Revolution also saw the abolition of the privileges of the First and Second Estate, including the tithes gathered by the Catholic clergy. This marked a shift in the relationship between the Church and the state, with the clergy agreeing to give up the tithe and allow the state to take over its funding. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, adopted on 26 August 1789, made no recognition of the special position of the Catholic Church, further distancing the Church from the state.
The revolutionary authorities suppressed the Church, abolished the Catholic monarchy, and nationalized Church property. Approximately 30,000 priests were exiled, and hundreds more were killed. Most French parishes were left without the services of a priest and were deprived of the sacraments. Any non-juring priest faced the guillotine or deportation to French Guiana. By Easter 1794, few of France's 40,000 churches remained open; many had been closed, sold, destroyed, or converted to other uses.
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The dechristianisation of France
In the late 18th century, France was predominantly Catholic. In 1789, the year of the outbreak of the French Revolution, Catholicism was the official religion of the French state. The French Catholic Church, known as the Gallican Church, recognised the authority of the pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church but had negotiated certain liberties that privileged the authority of the French monarch.
The French Revolution brought about a period of dechristianisation in France. This was the result of a number of separate policies conducted by various governments of France between 1789 and the Concordat of 1801. The aim of these policies ranged from the appropriation by the government of the great landed estates and the large amounts of money held by the Catholic Church to the termination of Christian religious practice and of the religion itself.
The revolutionary authorities suppressed the Church, abolished the Catholic monarchy, and nationalised Church property. In October 1793, the Christian calendar was replaced with one reckoned from the date of the Revolution, and Festivals of Liberty, Reason, and the Supreme Being were scheduled. New forms of moral religion emerged, including the deistic Cult of the Supreme Being and the atheistic Cult of Reason, with the revolutionary government briefly mandating observance of the former in April 1794.
The dechristianisation campaign can be seen as the logical extension of the materialist philosophies of some leaders of the Enlightenment such as Voltaire, while for others, it provided an opportunity to unleash resentments against the Catholic Church and its clergy. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 proclaimed freedom of religion across France. However, in reality, this freedom was limited. For example, in July 1790, the National Constituent Assembly published the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that stripped clerics of their special rights. The clergy were to be made employees of the state, elected by their parish or bishopric, and the number of bishoprics was to be reduced. All priests and bishops were required to swear an oath of fidelity to the new order or face dismissal, deportation, or death.
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Frequently asked questions
It is difficult to pinpoint an exact number of Catholics killed during the French Revolution, but it is estimated that thousands lost their lives. The University of Chicago Encyclopedia Britannica puts the number of detainees as a result of the Law of September 1793 at over 200,000, of whom 10,000 perished in disease-infested prisons. Military and revolutionary tribunals sentenced another 17,000 to death.
Before the French Revolution, the Catholic Church was the official state religion of France. The French population of 28 million was almost entirely Catholic, and the Church held significant power and wealth.
The French Revolution significantly weakened the power of the Catholic Church in France. The Church's properties and lands were confiscated and sold, and the clergy lost their special rights and privileges. The Revolution also sparked a period of dechristianization, with religious practice outlawed and replaced by the Cult of the Supreme Being.
