Jean-Baptiste-Guillaume Gratien

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Jean-Baptiste-Guillaume Gratien (born June 24, 1747 in Crescentino , Piedmont , † June 3, 1799 in Rouen ) was a French theologian and constitutional bishop .

Life

Jean-Baptiste-Guillaume Gratien devoted himself to theology and, after completing his studies, entered the congregation of the Lazarists . He worked for a long time as professor of theology in the great seminary of this order in Beaul near Chartres and was its superior from 1782 when it had to be closed in 1790 as a result of the French Revolution . He was well respected by the clergy for his erudition. Many priests who had studied under his direction asked him for advice in difficult cases in their later position, although strictly Orthodox theologians suspected that he represented Jansenist views.

The principles of freedom and equality established by the revolution seemed correct to Gratien, and he followed them more and more. When he visited the Bishop of Chartres, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph de Lubersac , his immediate superior, who was a member of the constituent assembly, in Paris at the end of 1790 , he promised him to remain loyal to him and not to abandon the Orthodox faith. Shortly after his return to Chartres, however, he declared himself in favor of the civil constitution of the clergy, which he regarded as the best means of stripping them of the character of a special corporation in the state, a position that was incompatible with the principles of republican freedom and equality. He allied himself with Nicolas Bonnet , parish priest of Saint-Michel, a 70-year-old old man who followed the same principles. This was appointed constitutional bishop on February 10, 1791 by the voters of the Eure-et-Loir department and consecrated by Gobel, the metropolitan bishop of Paris; But Gratien received the functions of a vicar of the Cathedral of Chartres , which he decorated to late May 1791st

The example of Gratien led several priests to follow the same path, including Laurent Rebzé, who became vicar of the bishop, Chauveau, Forestier, Gougis, Huet, Pétion and Tabourier, all of whom came into contact with the constitutional Bishop Bonnet, while the rightful Bishop Joseph de Lubersac emigrated to England with most of his cathedral chapter and many priests .

Now Gratien had paved the way to high ecclesiastical dignity, since his views coincided with those of the rulers. In early 1792 he was elected constitutional bishop of the Départements de la Seine-Inférieure with the seat in Rouen and consecrated on March 12, 1792. In agreement with the constitutional clergy, he began to organize his diocese, after he had already atteined his previous steps in a presentation of his principles ( Exposition de mes sentiments sur les vérités auxquelles on prétend que la constitution civile du clergé donne, et recueil d'autorités et des réflexions qui me paraissent la favoriser , 1791) and a few sharp replies from the unnamed in a protective letter ( Défense de l'exposition de mes sentiments, ou réponse à M. le curé de F. datée de Chartres le May 31, 1791 , Chartres 1791) had tried to refute. In it he claimed that the National Assembly, in which all parties of the Gallican Church were represented, was entitled not only to abolish the Concordat , but also to replace it with an institution corresponding to the original Christian teaching. His opponent did not owe him the answer and his development of the orthodox doctrine ( Observations sur les écrits des nouveaux docteurs et en particulier sur deux ouvrages de M. Gratien , Paris 1791) found favor with the majority of the French clergy.

Gratien tried to speak the word about the new order of things in the following pamphlets:

  • Contraste de la reformation anglicane par Henri VIII et de la reformation gallicane par l'Assemblée constituante , Chartres 1791
  • Lettre théologique sur l'approbation et la juridiction des confesseurs , Chartres and Paris 1791
  • Lettre pastorale , Rouen 1792

But Gratien's argument was so opposed to the conscience of the conservative clergy that it was not accepted by them. However, he now published a pastoral instruction that deviated from the resolutions of the constituent assembly ( Instruction pastorale sur la continence des ministres de la religion , 1792), in which he emphasized the duty of the clergy to observe celibacy . As a result, he turned the constitutional clergy, some of which had not only taken the citizen's oath but also married, against themselves so much that they denounced his instruction in the legislative assembly as a church diatribe. By obliging the clergy to be celibate, this scripture would violate the law and try to irritate the people. Thereupon the Deputy Lejosne requested that the Minister of Justice instruct the courts to prosecute the author of the pastoral instruction as well as the other clergy who would publish writings contrary to human rights and the law and to withdraw their pay. Gratien was arrested and would hardly have escaped guillotine death had it not been for the fall of Robespierre (1794) that had turned public opinion and freed the incarcerated bishop back. The charges were then abandoned.

On July 19, 1797, Moulis, one of the Grand Vicars of Gratiens, chaired a synod of constitutional and married priests gathered in the Cathedral of Évreux , who appointed 16 grand vicars to administer the diocese of Évreux. Several priests, including Fresnay and de Narbonne, objected to their appointment in a circular dated July 25, 1797, explaining to the clergy and the faithful of the diocese that they did not want to be considered vicars of Bishop Gratien. At the same synod, Gratien was also elected deputy for the church assembly to be held in Paris in August 1797, which was to deal with the appointment of constitutional bishops. He also fulfilled his mandate, but the new organization of the Gallican Church did not succeed.

Gratien died on June 3, 1799 at the age of 52 in Rouen before the old church order was restored. In addition to the writings mentioned, he also wrote a treatise on monetary transactions ( Tractatus ecclesiasticus de contractibus usurariis , Chartres 1790), in which he defended the granting of loans against interest, and a demonstration of the truth of the Christian religion drawn from the miracles worked by Christ ( La vérité de la religion chrétienne démontrée par les miracles de Jésus-Christ ). He also wanted to explain the legality of the constitutional prelates in a detailed document, but this resolution does not seem to have been carried out.

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personal data
SURNAME Gratien, Jean-Baptiste-Guillaume
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French theologian and constitutional bishop
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1747
PLACE OF BIRTH Crescentino , Piedmont
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 1799
Place of death Rouen