Risking Arrest the Catholic Alliance Spreads News of Napoleon’s Excommunication

Risking-Arrest-the-Catholic-Alliance-Spreads-News-of-Napoleon’s-Excommunication

Napoleon arrested Pope Pius VII on July 6, 1808. This extraordinary event triggered the alliance formed by the Marian Sodalities of Paris and Lyon, the Amicizie, and other lesser-known associations. Immediately, the alliance started using its contact networks, especially in France and Italy. These associations successfully made public essential documents concerning relations … Read more

Father Linsolas’s “Marian Sodality of Lyon” Strove to Preserve Catholicism During the French Revolution

Father Linsolas’s “Marian Sodality of Lyon” Strove to Preserve Catholicism During the French Revolution

Due to the vicissitudes of history, Catholics often formed societies whose existence they kept secret so that they might have some freedom of action. Those associations were always known to the competent ecclesiastical authorities. Civil officials were also informed of their activities when circumstances permitted. For example, during the seventeenth century, France’s … Read more

Young Parisian Nobles Combine to Defend Holy Mother Church

Young Parisian Nobles Combine to Defend Holy Mother Church

During the tumultuous negotiations leading to the Concordat of 1801, Napoleon systematically applied the tactics of a fear/sympathy syndrome. Sometimes he pleased the Holy See by making some concessions toward freedom of worship in France. On other occasions, he made threats and instigated Revolutionaries who intimidated the Holy See’s representatives and lukewarm … Read more