Gallicanism

Gallican ( medieval Latin of Gaul, France) was the arisen of late medieval French form of the Episcopalian. There was a church legal system with which the Catholic Church sought to produce in France a kind of independence from the Roman chair. These were certain privileges, the Gallican liberties placed. Essentially, it was to minimize the temporal power of the Pope in national policy issues and to subordinate its position to the national council of bishops.

Ideological anchoring in the Frankish Empire

The roots of the Gallican autonomy understanding go back to the Merovingian time. By the middle of the 8th century, the church was largely autonomously in the Frankish Empire. She met their decisions on Empire synods were convened by the king - like in the Roman Empire, where the synods were convened by the emperor. Order 750, there was an alliance of convenience between the house Meier Pippin the Younger and the Pope. Pippin wanted for himself and his descendants, the royal crown, the Pope urgently needed help against the Lombards and instead of the Byzantine Emperor a new patron. After the victory over the Lombards Pippin 756 this gave the Pope the conquered territory as Patrimony of St Peter and thus laid the foundation for the Papal States. This was the Frankish church - more than other regional churches - bound to the Pope, this exercised a jurisdiction from there. However, the Frankish Church retained certain rights and freedoms, both concerning the king (for example, staffing, approval of decrees ) as well as the bishops and their local churches to the Pope concerning.

Gallican era

Background and concept

On the freedoms described above, the French royal court remembered in the 14th century, when Philip and the Beautiful in conflict with Pope Boniface VIII over the existing of the pope 's view, superorder and transfer authority of the papacy against the secular rule and the division of powers between church rulers came. As a result, this church political debate led in 1309 to the transfer of the headquarters of the popes to Avignon and to the long-term subjugation of the papacy under French interests. Since Clement V (1305-1314) were only elected to the French popes, who in turn appointed almost exclusively French cardinals, which seemed to perpetuate this trend. The result was a Europe-wide church crisis, which led ultimately to the western Great Schism (1378-1417), as two and sometimes even three popes ruled side by side.

The movement in France, the programmatic promoted the political, organizational and theological independence of French church ( ecclesia Gallicana ) of the supremacy of the Pope and defended, is known only since their thorough exploration in the 19th century Gallican.

Conciliarism

In response to the chaotic ecclesiastical conditions in the time of the schism it came to the revival of the ancient Church conciliar movement, which culminated at the Council of Constance (1414-1418) in Europe. An important role was played by French theologians who are attributed as the champion of national ecclesiastical aspirations the Gallican; well-known representatives of the conciliar movement at the University of Paris ( Sorbonne ) were among others Pierre d' Ailly and Jean Gerson.

The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges

Was enshrined in law the Gallican 1438 by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. This is not to be confused with the same certificate of incorporation of the Habsburg Empire. These were rather an agreement between the king and clergy, in which the rights of the King ( jurisdiction, staffing ) were committed.

The Concordat of Bologna in 1516

In the Concordat of Bologna King Francis I in 1516 reached an agreement with Pope Leo X., was awarded the French crown in exchange for formal recognition of the superiority of the pope over the Councils almost unlimited control over the Church in France and their property with the. Since then, the French church to the king remained organizationally subordinated and was involved in the subsequent period in the management of the French state.

The Gallican articles of 1682

Reached its climax in the Gallican movement with the National Council of 1682, which Louis XIV summoned to Paris. Here were four articles that were written under the auspices of Bishop Jacques Bossuet Bénigne, promulgated the " Gallican Liberties ", which remained in force until the French Revolution.

The four articles had - in a nutshell - the following content:

Differentiated

Within the Gallican, one can observe two different trends. The one rather episkopalistische and konziliaristische direction, expressed in the Rome relatively independent theology that was taught at the Sorbonne. This theological movement culminated later in Jansenism. The other direction can be described as statesmanlike - absolutist. One of their most important representative was Bossuet, but also of Bossuet via his friendship with Antoine Arnauld a line to Jansenism. The overemphasis of state power in this flow of the Gallican was time- limited and disappeared completely by the end of absolutism.

Constitutional Church (1790-1801)

In the spirit of the Gallican Catholic Church in France was reorganized during the French Revolution to the Constitution civile du clergé the National Assembly on 12 July 1790. All facilities that do not serve the pastoral care were dissolved (83 instead of the previous 130) defined the dioceses on the basis of the new territorial departments of newly elected bishops and pastors of the faithful to the oath committed to the Constitution and paid by the state. The so-called constitutional bishops were in 1797 and 1801 French national councils. The Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, both the constitutional bishops and the bishops who had emigrated the Ancien Régime were pushed to resignation.

Aftermath

In the following years the Roman Curia indeed succeeded partly a formal repeal of the " Pragmatic Sanction " (cf. Leo X. ), actually remained the privileges of French kings but. Only after the French Revolution and the abolition of absolutism heard on the function of the Gallican Church.

Decisive influence had the Episcopalian and konziliaristischen ideas that were taught at the Sorbonne, when the Roomsch Katholieke Kerk van de Oud- Bisschoppelijke Cleresie (now Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands) opposed the primacy claim of the Pope in the first quarter of the 18th century. From remnants of the Constitutional Church and the followers of the bishops of the Ancien Régime formed in the 19th century in France several small Catholic Churches ( Petite Église, Église Catholique Française, etc.). After the First Vatican Council in 1871 they joined to part with the international Old Catholicism (including the Union of Utrecht ), to another part of the French opponents of the new papal dogmas organize other hand, as emphasized Gallican Churches ( Église Catholique, Apostolique et Française of Joseph René Vilatte, Église Gallicane of Louis -François Giraud ).

After the first three Gallican articles with the abolition of absolutism in France had become devoid of purpose, trying to counter the First Vatican Council, especially those ideas that are reflected in the fourth Gallican articles. Due to the historical development of the following period, the Catholic Church and the papacy has clearly recognized that the supranational character is essential for Catholicism. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) on the one hand strengthened the identity of the Church as the universal Church, but on the other hand won a new openness to regional cultural realities. The Council, Pope Paul VI. met with his enforcement of the liturgical reform, particularly in France on resistance of altritualistischen traditionalism. Whether this could be due to the influence of the after-effects from the 18th century Gallican, is still under discussion. Furthermore, it is discussed whether the French secularism can also be understood as an after-effect in terms of a counter-movement, the Gallican.