In the continuing nineteenth-century battle between liberals and Ultramontanes, Abbé André Sisson’s article in L’Ami de la réligion attempted to shift the burden of proving the errors in the pamphlet, L’Univers Jugé Par Lui-Mème to Louis Veuillot’s shoulders. To deflect the article’s effects, Veuillot sent Abbé Joseph Cognat, the editor of L’Ami … Read more
The existence of a conspiracy against the Ultramontane editor, Louis Veuillot, and his newspaper l’Univers became increasingly evident during the early 1850s. An important factor was the publication of Alfred, the Count de Falloux’s book, The Catholic Party—What it Was and What it Has Become. Perhaps even more apparent was the promotion … Read more
The political philosopher Joseph de Maistre was in a prime position to observe those who presided over the Restoration of the French Monarchy in 1814 and 1815. He coined a famous phrase that aptly summarized the Bourbons’ policy upon their return to the throne of France. “Everything has been reestablished, nothing restored.” … Read more
Two great misfortunes marked Louis Veuillot’s life during Felix Dupanloup’s, the Bishop of Orleans, campaign to get the French episcopate to condemn L’Univers. First, Veuillot’s six-month old daughter, Thérèse passed away in July 1852. In November, his wife died of peritonitis shortly after giving birth to their daughter Medeline. Grief-stricken, the editor-in-chief … Read more
In addition to editing l’Univers, Louis Veuillot sought to enlighten Catholics on the various questions then agitating nineteenth-century France. He conceived a project to publish a series of books by specialists on specific subjects. Each would expound the true doctrine of the Church with clarity and objectivity. That collection would carry the … Read more
After l’Univers published Bishop Pierre-Louis Parisis’s letter praising the newspaper, other prelates expressed support and sympathy for the journal and its editor, Louis Veuillot. That made it impossible for Bishop Felix Dupanloup of Orléans to publish the declaration condemning L’Univers that he had so carefully prepared. After all, his pretext for posting … Read more
After being rebuffed by the editor of l’Univers, Louis Veuillot, Bishop Felix Dupanloup, the liberal Bishop of Orléans, plotted to obtain an ecclesiastical condemnation of nineteenth-century France’s most read Ultramontane paper. On the pretext of quelling rumors about a “so-called division in the episcopate,” Bishop Dupanloup asked that all French bishops sign … Read more
Msgr. John-Joseph Gaume’s 1851 book, Le Ver Rongeur des Sociétés modernes: ou La Paganisme Dans L’Education [The Gnawing Worm of Modern Societies: or Paganism in Education] sparked immediate reactions among Ultramontanes and Liberal Catholics alike. Its central point was that the study of classical (Greek and Roman) literature was harmful to the … Read more
During the early nineteenth century, the idea of Catholics uniting to defend the Church was a novelty. The notion met with opposition from even the best quarters of French society. The bishops and the vast majority of the clergy did not support establishing a Catholic Party. The laity viewed Count Montalembert’s efforts … Read more
The Count of Montalembert learned much from his experience in the first battle for the freedom of education. One lesson was that defending Church interests required unified action. Such unity was difficult since the Catholic public was completely disoriented. France’s various forms of government between 1789 and 1830 had given rise to … Read more
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