Hugues Felicite Robert de Lamennais

Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais was a French Catholic priest, philosopher and political writer who attempted to combine political liberalism with Roman Catholicism after the French Revolution. He was one of the most influential intellectuals of Restoration France and is considered the forerunner of liberal Catholicism and social Catholicism. His opinions on matters of religion and government changed dramatically over the course of his life. He initially held rationalistic views, but in part due to the influence of his elder brother, Jean-Marie, came to see religion as an antidote for the anarchy and tyranny unleashed by revolution. He derided Napoleon, in part because of the Organic Articles, in which France acting unilaterally amended the Concordat of 1801 between France and the papacy. Lamennais assailed the Gallican view of the relationship between civil authority and the Church and was for a time a staunch ultramontane. Lamennais was ordained a priest in 1817, the same year he published Essai sur l'indifférence en matière de religion (Essay on Indifference in Matters of Religion), a four-volume work that defended the Catholic faith against skepticism and rationalism. He argued that only the authority of the Church could guarantee social order and moral values. He also advocated for a revival of Christian faith and a reform of the Church. He gained fame and popularity among the French clergy and laity, as well as abroad. He was seen as a champion of orthodoxy and a defender of papal supremacy. However, Lamennais soon became disillusioned with the reactionary policies of the Bourbon monarchy and the conservative faction of the Church. He developed a more liberal and democratic vision of society, based on the principle of human dignity and freedom. He believed that the Church should support the cause of liberty and justice, and ally itself with the people rather than the kings. He also hoped that the pope would recognize and bless this new order. In 1830, he founded L'Ami de l'ordre (The Friend of Order), later renamed L'Avenir (The Future), a newspaper that advocated for an enlarged suffrage, separation of church and state, universal freedom of conscience, instruction, assembly, and the press. He also supported the independence movements in Poland and Ireland. He was joined by other young Catholic liberals, such as Charles de Montalembert and Henri Lacordaire. Lamennais's radicalism distanced him from a number of his friends and allies, who feared that he was undermining the foundations of religion and society. His views also alarmed the Vatican, which summoned him to Rome in 1831. Lamennais obeyed, but refused to retract his opinions or submit to the pope's judgment. He returned to France in 1832, disappointed and bitter. He continued to publish his newspaper, but it was soon suppressed by the government. In 1834, he broke with the Church and published Paroles d'un croyant (Words of a Believer), a collection of aphorisms that denounced both religious and political authority as oppressive and corrupt. The book was condemned by Pope Gregory XVI for its philosophical theories and its revolutionary spirit. Lamennais spent the rest of his life in opposition to both church and state. He became increasingly radical and isolated, embracing socialism, republicanism, and nationalism. He supported various revolutionary movements in Europe, such as the 1848 revolutions and the Roman Republic of 1849. He also wrote several works of philosophy, history, and poetry, expressing his vision of a universal fraternity of peoples. He served as a deputy for Paris to the Constituent Assembly in 1848, but his draft for a Constitution was rejected as too radical. He died in Paris in 1854, without reconciling with the Church. He was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery.