November 20 2015
The Impact of History upon Events in France
TimeWatch Editorial
November 20, 2015
Dr Gemma Betros is a Lecturer in European History at the Australian National University, College of Arts & Social Sciences. She holds a BA with majors in History and French from the University of Queensland where she also did her Honors year in History. Her postgraduate work was done at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a Masters in Philosophy in European Studies and a PhD in History in 2007.
Gemma Betros published an article on December 2010 in the 68th issue of the “History Review.” The Article was entitled “The French Revolution and the Catholic Church.” We have posted a portion of this article in our TimeWatch Daily file for today, November 20, 2015 with a link to the entire article at the History Today website. We recommend that you spend the time and read the entire article.
It is somewhat unusual today, given the volume of Historical Revisionism that abounds, to actually find an Historian who looks at, and describes with clarity the path of the historical relationship between any country and the Catholic Church. Dr. Betros is to be commended. She begins by describing the condition of the relationship between the 28 million French citizens and the Pope in 1789 when the French Revolution began. In her very first paragraph she says this:
“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. Yet, by 1794, France’s churches and religious orders were closed down and religious worship suppressed. How did it come to this?”
Dr. Betros continues to explain:
“The Enlightenment quest to promote reason as the basis for legitimacy and progress found little to praise in the Church. While the philosophers appreciated the value of religion in promoting moral and social order, the Church itself was condemned for its power and influence. The scandal surrounding the divisive theological movement of Jansenism, exacerbated by the heavy-handed treatment of its followers earlier in the century, furnished one reason for attacking the Church’s authority and its close links with the monarchy. France’s lack of toleration for religious minorities provided another.”
The early extremes and excesses of the church in France soon lead to the movement called ‘dechristianisation’, that is, the removal of all religion from France. Listen to Dr. Betros’ continued description:
“On 23 November 1793, churches were closed, to be converted into warehouses, manufacturing works or even stables. Streets and other public places bearing the names of saints were given new, often Republican themed names, and time itself was recast to further repudiate France’s Christian past. The Revolutionary calendar started with the advent of the French Republic (Year 1). The names of its months reflected the seasons and its ten-day week eliminated Sunday as a day of rest and worship. Although such measures were unevenly applied, and in many cases met with considerable local opposition, they reinforced the message that Christianity had no place in the Republic.”
The battle that followed occurred over many years, but the results were clear. Even though by 1799 the church was allowed to return, it was now under the complete authority of the state.
In his book entitled “Our brief against Rome” Charles Stuteville Isaacson says on page 6:
“Rome never changes. She never abates one jot or tittle of any claim once advanced by her.”
Not only does she never change, Frederick Alley in his book, entitled: “The Dignity of Man: As Shown in His Creation, Redemption and Eternal Destiny” on page 155 says:
“Rome never forgets. For successive years and even centuries she plans and secretly works out the accomplishment by any means in her power. The Jesuit teaching for centuries is that ‘the end justifies the means.’ The murder of one man or of a million if they stand in the way of her success is not a crime but a virtue. The Pope and leading clergy of Rome went in solemn procession to the church of St. Peter and St. Paul and sang a Te Deum in honor of the slaughter of those accursed heretics in France at the Festival of St. Bartholomew.”
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence , directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants ) during the French Wars of Religion . Frederick Alley, Charles Stuteville Isaacson and Dr Gemma Betros all share an understanding of history. It is often the case that we are influenced today by events of the past. Winston Churchill's quote "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it," at least can stand a slight editing: “Those who are unaware of history are doomed to be surprised by current events.”
Cameron Bowen
