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The Separation of Church and State
Concordat of 1801
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Image Above
Allégorie du
Concordat de 1801
Oil on canvas by Pierre Joseph Célestin
FRANÇOIS, 1802
RMN |
The Concordat of 1801
was concluded on July 15, 1801, at Paris, between France and
the Vatican.
It was publicly declared on April 18, 1802.
What Made the
Concordat of 1801 Necessary?
Triggered by the
French Revolution, the
government of France had clipped the wings of the Catholic
Church considerably. The Concordat of 1801 was an attempt of
reconciliation.
Bishop Giovanni
Battista Caprara acted as one of the
negotiators between
Napoleon
and the Pope.
What Was Agreed
Upon in the Concordat of 1801?
The concordat
recognized the Catholic Church as the religion
of the French majority. The Catholic Church, in
turn, gave up all claims on confiscated Church
property.
However, the French government added an
attachment to this concordat, the so-called Organic
Articles (French: Articles Organiques) about which Pope Pius VII wasn't thrilled.
In a nutshell, the Pope was given less power than the government.
Other articles decreed that
Protestants were allowed to practice their religion and
that, as far as the French administration was concerned,
Protestantism was equal to Catholicism.
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