France–Holy See relations

France - Holy See relations

France	Holy See

Holy See–France relationsare very ancient and have existed since the 5th century. They have been durable to the extent thatFranceis sometimes called theeldest daughter of the Church(fille aînée de l'Églisein French).

Areas of cooperation betweenParisand the Holy See have traditionally included education, health care, the struggle against poverty and international diplomacy. Before the establishment of thewelfare state,Church involvement was evident in many sectors of French society. Today, Paris's international peace initiatives are often in line with those of the Holy See, which favors dialogue on a global level.

Early Middle Ages

Thefirst Council of Orléansofficially sealed a long-lasting alliance between the papacy and the monarchy. TheCarolingiansstrongly enforced these laws for centuries, but they often took it to themselves to name bishops and control church activities.

Late Middle Ages

TheGregorian reformwas successfully imposed on France.Boniface VIIIhad a bitter dispute withPhilip the Fairover the temporal power of the pope. These divisions eventually led to theWestern Schism,which was only resolved after the end of theAvignonpapacy. Unresolved controversies from that schismatic period led to thewars of religion,in which the Catholic side ultimately prevailed in France.

16th-17th century

Gallicanismplayed a major role in the period following theCouncil of Trent.The kings of France had a near monopoly on the nomination of bishops and it was difficult to apply all the decisions of Trent because of this.Louis XIVwas a major patron of the church and was generally opposed to granting privileges to Protestants.

18th century

Disputes betweenjesuitsandjansenistshad popeClement XIintervene in church affairs with the bullUnigenitusof 1713 in order to resolve controversies over grace.

The bullIn eminenti apostolatusbanning Freemasonry is promulgated by popeClement XIIin 1738, but it was deliberately ignored by the French parliament, which went on to adopt the social program of theEnlightenment.

PopePius VInotoriously opposed theCivil Constitution of the Clergy,a turning point in the French Revolution which led to bloody infighting between revolutionaries and reactionaries.

19th century

The Concordat of 1801 was a reflection of an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII that reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and restored some of its former civil status.

After Napoleon's defeat, the Papacy approved of the neo-royalistRestorationand opposed theCarbonarisand other secret societies. Therevolutions of 1848had a largely negative impact on relations between the two States, andPius IXpublicly deplored them.

After Pius IX's death in 1878, relations became sour between secularists and Catholics who were mostly monarchists, but popeLeo XIIIdid his best to reconcile the two opposite factions in French society, in what historians have called theralliementby recognising the republic.

20th century

The early 20th century was a very difficult time in France-Vatican relations because of tensions overchurch-state separation(laicité) andanticlericalism,which were condemned byPius X,and which led to the freezing of relations.

However, relations were renewed after theFirst World Warand had very much improved under the presidency ofCharles de Gaulle.There was controversy over relations under theVichy regime,because the regime rewarded the Church even though bishops often opposed antisemitism.

AlthoughGiscard D'Estainghad been considered as a conservative Catholic (he was from theUnion for French Democracy(UDF), which was a centre-right Christian democratic party), it was under his conservative government that laws onabortionandcontraceptionwere legalised.

Relations with theFrançois Mitterrand'sSocialistgovernment were also chilly because the Socialist government planned to further secularize private schools (defunded the schools which run by the Catholic Church) and functionaries, massive demonstrations making it change its mind.John Paul IIdeplored thedechristianization of France;in one of his pilgrimages, he famously said, "France, what have you done of your baptism?"

21st century

Relations with theNicolas Sarkozy's conservativegaullistgovernment had been relatively good, given the fact that the government announced an end to the ban on recognition of higher Christian institutions.

Relations with theFrançois Hollande's socialist government with Vatican had been strained, due to the Socialist government legalizedsame-sex marriagein 2013. However, President François Hollande had a good relationship withPope Francis.

Resident diplomatic missions

• France has an embassy to the Holy See inRome.
• Holy See has an Apostolic nunciature inParis.

• 
  Embassy of France to the Holy See in Rome
• 
  Apostolic nunciature of the Holy See in Paris

See also

• Apostolic Nunciature to France
• Briand-Ceretti Agreement
• Pious Establishments of France