Charitas
The letter of Pius VI to the clergy and people of France condemning the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and the oath to uphold it, suspending clergy who had sworn, and declaring the consecrations of the new bishops unlawful.
The letter is addressed to the cardinals, bishops, clergy and people of the kingdom of France and is dated at Rome, 13 April 1791. Its first half recounts the pope’s dealings with Louis XVI and the French bishops since July 1790 and names the bishops who took the oath and consecrated the first elected bishops. The second half imposes penalties and exhorts those who refused the oath to stand firm.
It is the pope’s account and judgment, written from Rome on the reports that reached him; its statement that almost all the bishops and most parish priests refused the oath is his own. It is cited in the French Revolution and the Church beside the law it condemns, Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Cited in
- 1790 to 1801, firm date